Wide Awake
by RippahGoneWolf
Summary: Caroline knew she already had enough crap on her plate to deal with. Life's a bitch, then you die. But, she never knew what it had in store for her when a drunken man was found on her doorstep. Especially with this man's unknown secrets lurking about... AU. AH. Klaus/Caroline/Damon
1. Prologue

**A/n: Hi folks! This is my first Vampire Diaries fanfic! I've been on fanfiction for a while, but there's been a block in my head of what to write. But, I finally found some inspiration. I'm surprised to say after reading some of the stories on here, they are really good. I like the series now. I really like the character, Caroline Forbes. I guess it's because I relate to her so much. She's my favorite. I also like Bonnie too. The Salvatore brothers are my favorite male characters in the series. Though I am into Klaus too. He's a cool villain. Anyway, I decided to give myself a shot at this. Please tell what you think and review! **

**Disclaimer: I do own Vampire Diaries. I only own the plot of my story and the characters I create in my story. **

Chapter 1: Prologue

_Dear Diary, _

_It's two o'clock in the morning. It's been three hours. Three hours since what happened. It's so quiet. Too much silence in the house like it was void of life. I __can't sleep. I didn't want to. If I do, all I'm going to see is him. I don't want to. I'll just cry all over again. My eyes hurt. My voice was hoarse and scratchy from all of the yelling_. I don't want to cry, but it hurts so much. I can't even describe it. As much as I want to try to convince myself that he'll come back, I know he won't. Not in this situation. Not in this lifetime. Life's too short for false truths. It's so easier to lie than it is to tell the truth. I can't do that. I'm too honest. It would only postpone the pain. Maybe if it were different though, I wouldn't feel so much of these stupid emotions, dammit! Today would have been just a regular day. I would be sleeping right about at this time, but I can't. There's so many what ifs. There's too many questions in my head now. I have to stop thinking if it. There's no point. It's only a waste. 

_I did it. I told him the truth. I did what I had to do. There was no use of hiding it anymore. I couldn't hide it anymore. It was too much. He was too blind to see it. He's too stubborn to see it. Why? I don't know anymore. I'm pretty screwed up. I always screw up. Just when things just get good, me and my big mouth had to ruin it. Is that all I ever do?_

_But, what was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave him in the dark? I couldn't do it. I'm too nice to do that to someone. Especially with him. Why do I have to deal with this? What did I do wrong? I only did what he wanted me to do. I took **HIS** advice. **HE** told **ME** to be selfish for once. Look, where it got **ME**! It blew up in my face. That son of a bitch! _

_I should hate him, but I can't. I should've thought of these things through, but I didn't. I know it's wrong to be selfish, but I didn't care. I don't care anymore. I did what I had to do. There's no turning back time now to change what happened. I know he hates me right now, but that doesn't matter. I should have seen where this was going to turn out. But, I didn't. I was blind. I was too open. Now, I'm wide awake to see how things really are. I'm going to let it go now. The story's ending now. _

_It dosen't help much though. Sometimes, it's so hard to see the bright side. It's exhausting. Lord knows I do it so much. Right now, I'm so confused. All I'm doing is just trying to move on. _

_But, I knew these five things…_

_1) He was the best thing that happened to me. _

_2) He was also the worst thing that happened to me._

_3) I still have a broken heart. _

_4) I want to hate him so much, but I can't. _

_5) I can't hate him, because I still love Damon Salvatore so much. _

_Truly, _

_Caroline Forbes_


	2. Just Like Every Other Day

**A/n: I appreciate all of the support I am getting from the prologue. I need to give you a little information on it. The diary entry is supposed to be for another chapter later in the story. We'll be getting to that point soon enough as the plot thickens. I didn't want to reveal everything right off the bat. My story has a little bit of everything: drama, comedy, romance, angst, friendship, and comfort. I have to admit that one of the best authors of the Daroline couple is starzee. She writes amazing stories with that couple. It's from her stories, I rather got inspired to do this sort of. And from a bunch of other things too. The story at first is probably going to be a little short in the chapters like around 3,000 words at the most, but when it starts to pick up it'll probably be around 4,000 to 5,000 words. **

**Anyway, next point. The reason I like Caroline is that I can easily relate to her. She has her own insecurities to work out just like any other human being. We all know Damon has his load to carry too. No offense to any of the Delena lovers out there, but sometimes I get tired of the love triangle drama. I just say let her be with Stefan and be done with it. Though I admit, there are times I like the Delena stuff. I'm open about stuff, but I have my preferences. Just trying to be nice. Anyway, please enjoy and review. Reviews are like cookies. Cookies make people happy! Lol. ;D**

**Oh, if I make any mistakes in the chapter, please let me know nicely! Please… **

**Thanks again to those reviewed, who added this to their story alerts, and added the story to their favorites list: cenation123, V, Chloevamp, Damon's Vampire Barbie, thisheartbeatsforyou, .eyes.90, DarolineKlaroline, and LaLaALa521. **

**A special thank you to cenation123 for taking the time to be the first one to review this story ever! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries. **

Chapter 1: Just Like Every Other Day

Someone once asked me, "How do you describe your life?"

I gave them an honest answer. "Well, it's like this. Life's a bitch then you die."

Unfortunately, that wasn't my best day to begin with; like it was today. Mother Nature decided to pay me a morning visit and left me with a gift. No female on the entire planet loves the daily monster that comes out once a month. If they did, they were either very high or just plain crazy. Maybe stupid? That was always another idea to think about from time to time.

Usually, I'm a upbeat person. Nothing really ever gets to me. Just because I let a lot of things slide, doesn't mean I'm not human. Trust me, there were plenty of days where I just wanted to scream at someone and rip their throats out. I was bitchy when I wanted to be. Every woman was capable of having a bitchy side to her. It was only a matter of what brings out said bitchy side. For me, not many things bother me. But, there were a few that completely drew me up the wall.

Exhibit A: Traffic

After living in Richmond for fourteen years, I'd thought I'd get used to the city. Yeah, it was not really working out so much for me. Especially, when someone just freaking cut me off at a busy intersection! "Hey! What the hell, jackass!"

Yup, today was not my day. Let's start from the beginning. Today was just like every other day of trying to make ends meet and keeping your life together. Get up, get ready, take of things, go to work, and come home. It was that simple, right? Oh, how I wished it were that easy.

Thank, God the day was over. Goodbye, work! Hello, weekend! I knew what this weekend called for: quiet time and a little T.L.C. I wasn't forgetting either the box of my favorite chocolates. I know I've been watching my figure for a while right now, but I couldn't care less. Moreover, there are other things were attending to than a pain-in-the-butt diet. I'm still a slender girl, but I wasn't where I used to be.

I drove further away from the city into more of the suburban part. I still had my iPhone hooked up to my radio blaring out Avril Lavigne songs helping me as I tried to fight off the sleep I desperately needed. A few minutes passed until I came up to the concrete driveway pulling up to my house. The house itself was what I would call "just right." It was a wooden house with an off-white cream color. I could never really pinpoint the color of the wood. I had a porch in the front with a porch swing and some chairs. There was a walkway to the front of the house and it lead the way towards the back of the property. The house was also two stories. However, even though it was two stories, it was entirely that big. There were three bedrooms, and one and a half baths. The first floor consisted of a living room, a kitchen joined up with a dining room, my bedroom, and a half bath. Upstairs, there were two other bedrooms. One of them was used as my storage space sort of. It had an attic too.

But, there was a reason I bought the property. What attracted me to it the most was that the property was full of life. There was a lot of trees and fresh open air. It made me feel at peace.

I got out of the car gathering my bags, and headed to the front of the door. As I unlocked the door, I heard the loud barking coming from the inside of my house. Three…two…one

"Stupid dog! Will you ever shut up?" Yup, that was Kat complaining about my dog, Rowdy. In other news…

"Give him a break, Kat. He's not changing anytime soon. I don't see why you're even trying to make him quiet."

"Oh, yeah. Let us see you try to get this kid to sleep with the dog always barking so much. And don't forget the fact that she's been waiting for you too." She explained to me.

I gave a little sad smile. I hated the fact that I had to work the late shift more often because of the way the economy is. Money has been tight a little bit lately. Thankfully, I've been storing necessary stuff in case I ran out of money. Never can't be too repaired. It's better safe than sorry. With the way I've been working, my time has been cut short with-

"MAMA!" Hearing the pitter-pattering of little feet, I saw my daughter running towards me. I picked her up into my arms, and I hugged her as tight as she could. Boy, I loved her so much. I may have had her when I was younger than I thought I would, but I loved her nonetheless. To be honest, she was a combination of her father and me. He and I both had blonde hair and blue eyes. But, he had light brown to dark blonde hair, and his eyes were more of a grayish-blue. If you haven't noticed already, I'm a single mother of a little girl. "Hey, baby," I crooned to her as I hugged her, "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

"I don't want sleep. I want to see you." Those crystal blue eyes of hers usually made me never want to say no to her. But, I had to be her mother, and guide her the right way. Moreover, it's not normal or good for a four-year-old child to be staying up so late. At least, I'll be able to tuck her in tonight.

"Thanks for helping, Katherine. I can't thank you enough for this," I said appreciating her charitable help. If I hadn't met her all those years ago, I wasn't sure how I was going to balance all of the stuff thrown at me. Juggling all of what I had to do was no easy feat. It still isn't now.

"No problem, sweetheart. Whether it's you and me or me and her, we always have fun together. Anyway, I'm heading out. I'll see you around," Katherine replied. Then she turned to my daughter, "I'll see you later, shorty."

"I'm not…short…" My little girl said slowly as she yawned.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep saying that to yourself." She left not too long after that, and headed back home. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was a quarter to eleven in the evening. I sighed to myself. Well, might as well tuck her in to bed.

Rowdy, my faithful German shepherd, walked up to my feet, nudged me with his cold wet nose, and whined. "I'll give you your treat later. We both know Kat's not terribly fond of you like I am." It was a fact too. Katherine was never really into dogs. She was always more of a cat person. Rowdy went off into the living room, and chewed on his squeaky toy, which left me the task with my daughter.

"Let's get you into bed. We're both tired." I made my way up the stairs and headed inside of her bedroom. Let's just say she was a little different from most kids. She was never really a girly girl. As much as I wanted her to be a little princess to dress up for my amusement, we always don't get what we want. She likes some dresses, but most of the time I only make her wear shorts, pants, and shirts. Her smaller bedroom was painted a light dusty rose color. When I got the house years ago, I had been pregnant at the time trying to decide what I had wanted for my baby's room. I settled for the dusty rose color, white, and purple. I still felt the cool smooth wooden floor under my bare feet. Most of the furniture in her room was made from wood. Her special twin bed was made with little compartments for space. All around there were bits of many purples and whites. I sat by the bed, and made sure she was snug in the blankets.

"You're tucked in enough, sweetie?"

"Yup. I want a bedtime story," she wanted. My baby girl always had her nose stuck in a book. She inherited that trait from her father. She was very intelligent for a child her age. Also coming from my genes, she was always determined to do things on her own. There was always something new for her to learn. She read again over very few books. Once she read a book, she usually would want to read a new one. Sometimes, I was surprised about her yet there were times I wasn't. What was I expecting? I wasn't expecting her to just be all of her me.

From the time she was a baby, she always loved it when someone read to her. It was one of the only the ways I got her to sleep at night. I remembered times at night I would rock her to sleep reading her one of her books given to her. Soon enough, it became part of our daily routine. Every night (or most nights), I got her ready for bed. Then she'd pick a book, and I'd read to her until she fell asleep. It varied some nights if she fell asleep eventually.

"Were you good for Aunt Kat?" I asked her making sure.

"Yes, ma'am. Now, can I have a story?"

"What are you supposed to say?" I reminded her.

"Please…" I smiled at her with her good manners, and I got a book from the bookshelf above her dresser. I picked out the book called _The Fox and the Hound. _That was her all-time favorite story. She and I had watched the movie and read the book so many times; there were too many times to count.

"Thank you, Mama." I always knew she had that ability to make anyone smile from me. Okay, now I'm being a little too vain right now. God, Katherine has rubbed off me too much. I'll have to fix that eventually.

"You're welcome, Clara." I started to read to her again as usual with _The Fox and the Hound_. By the time I read half of it, she was sleeping as hard as a rock. I gently put the book back on the shelf as I got up. Coming back towards Clara, I stroked her hair back and kissed her goodnight. I gently closed the door down to a crack, and left her nightlight on. Now, I needed to get ready for bed.

I finally felt the weight of the entire day pressing against my head with nothing else distracting me now. "First thing on my list; I am in need of a shower."

Moreover, boy, did I need it. I went to the bathroom, and started a hot shower. God, it felt so good! It helped to ease the soreness in my aching muscles from walking all day. Luckily, I didn't have to shave my legs so that saved me some time to get ready for bed. After I was done, I dried myself off leaving my hair wet. It was a little chilly in the house. I knew I had done right by buying extra blankets last week. It's been getting colder more every day, and I tried a lot this winter not to use the heater so much.

I changed into a pair of gray sweatpants, my old sport jersey, and wore my black and pink hoodie. Heading downstairs, I checked the doors and made sure they were locked. I hardly ate anything from the last shift. They called us in for an emergency, and I hadn't been able to stop for a break. My eyes wondered around until they settled on the sight of the refrigerator.

Great…just great…

The dreaded disease called the Munchies. There was no cure for it. No way to stop it. Should I? Nah, what the hell. I work too hard not to get a treat. I went into the refrigerator and found my stash of Hot Pockets. I grabbed the chicken-quesadilla flavor, and popped it into the microwave for one minute. After it was done, I settled for a glass of milk with my food, and ate in the living room.

As I ate, I kept thinking about of what I had to do tomorrow. I still had to make sure Clara had a chance to speak to her father on Skype. Getting the house together all nice and clean was not that hard to do; I usually kept it pretty sound and clean. Then I had all of the Christmas errands I had to run with Christmas a few weeks away. I gave out a tired sigh. The list never ends.

I threw the dishes into the sink, and was about to head back into my bedroom. Then I heard Rowdy bark at me again, pawing my leg with his claws. There he goes always reminding me of his daily treats. "Here, Rowdy. Now, don't ask me anymore for treats until tomorrow," I said to him handing him his favorite bacon treats. Satisfied, he went on his merry way. Sleep was awaiting me, and I wasn't going to put it off any longer.

My bedroom had colors from burnt orange to light brown with some white tossed into it. Some of the wooden furniture in my room was a very dark brown, almost to a black color. Hidden in one of my drawers in my nightstand, I pulled out an almost worn out leather bound diary. It had been a Christmas gift for me since college from Katherine. I loved it, and I never stopped writing in it. It was nothing, but my own personal thoughts and me. I got my pen and started to write.

_Dear Diary, _

_I'm so lucky to have someone to talk to about my daily problems and feelings. I'd like to think the fact that that person is you. I know it's crazy to think like that, but I really don't care. This is my possession to write in. I have every right to say whatever I want in here. _

_Well, this week had been long and slow. The shifts of working the hospital at work have been getting more demanding and gruesome lately. Some of the twelve-hour shifts I've been putting in have just been unbelievable. I hope that soon enough, I'll be able to change to a job more flexible schedule. It's wearing me down. Every time I come home, I just want to drop down and pass out. It hurts my heart by the fact that I'm not able to spend time with my baby girl, as I want to. She's my whole world. My whole world is revolved around her. She's the reason I get up in the morning to go to work. She's my reason to live. She's the reason that I don't give when everything seems so bleak and hopeless. I had to be there for her. She's my baby girl. _

_I'm blessed though to have Kat around to help out. Did I ever tell you about her? Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. I don't remember. I'm just gonna write it down, anyway. You were never really a perfectionist when it came to grammar in this too so that's me a little. Anyway, where were we? Oh , yeah! "Kat," or better known as Katherine Pierce. I'm telling you now though, she's definitely a character to know. _

_First off, the ages between Katherine and I are very close. Ithe ages between Katherine and I are very close. It really didn't take long to know each other long enough to get along. Let's just say, she came from a family that was loaded with money since day one. She never really gave me the full details, but she had told me that she never got along with them well. She was the oldest in the family of two children. She had a falling out with her parents at the age of fifteen. Due to what though, she never spoke of it to me. She was always very private about her past life. She gave me her reasons for me not to ask about it. _

_Even with her past preferred to remain in the past, it showed no problem with me. I understood to a certain extent. Anyway, let's talk about Kat. Kat was and always is a woman of confidence. She knows what she's got, and she's not afraid to show it off. She's a bit cynical, and has a somewhat twisted sense of humor. Not twisted in a way, but it was just enough to draw your attention. She's tough too. And deep down if you know her long enough, she'll show that very rare nicer side to her. She helped me a lot through the stuff that went down me the past couple of years. I can't ever thank her enough. My friendship with her really deepened when Clara was born. It even got to the point where I asked Kat to be the godmother of my daughter. I remembered that day she was born, and the look on Kat's face when I asked her. She gave me a small smile with tears pricking her eyes. She made me swear not to tell anyone about that. The crying part, I mean. _

_Clara tends to always bring out the best in me. I wouldn't trade my life any other way. _

_I'm glad that she doesn't have to hear my bad side when I get aggravated. I try to control my mouth, which I do most of the time. But, I am not perfect. Way far from it. But, damn! Everywhere stupid people always surround me. I try not to let it get to me, but damn! What am I supposed to do? _

_All I know is that, I have to find a better job soon before I lose my mind! Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little too much .Hopefully; this private diary will stay private. I don't need anyone else seeing my inner thoughts. I have to stop staying up so late too. I won't be able to get up if I don't get some sleep. I have to wake up early in the morning. I'll write more later on. Until next time…_

_Truly, _

_Caroline Forbes _

I finished writing, marked my place in my diary, and fell asleep in my bedroom.

**A few hours later…**

Bang.

Bang.

Scream.

Thump.

I woke up in a cold sweat. I thought there was noise. Maybe I'm just hearing things…

Thump.

Moan.

There it was again. I knew for sure this time. I checked Clara before I headed back toward the front door. Rowdy was at the door practically stalking it. He's always was overprotective of Clara and me. You got to love him, though. He's a very loyal dog.

I grabbed my old softball aluminum bat, and steadied myself at the door. I knew I looked like I was nuts, but I wasn't going to go unprotected. What if it was a maniac? I'm only doing what I need to do to protect myself.

I braced myself, opened the door, and held my bat ready to swing. I felt the cold wind blowing right through me as if I wasn't wearing any clothes at all. And I was bundled up in many clothes! Good Lord! I always loved autumn, but I cannot stand winter. It's way too cold. Looking down on my doorstep, I saw what was causing the noise. Rowdy, still noisy as ever, wouldn't be quiet. He just kept barking at it.

"Rowdy, shut up!" He reluctantly quieted down to a low growling under his breath. "Now, get back into the house and stay with Clara. I can take care of it from here."

I tried to assess what had been going on, but I couldn't tell much coming from the bad lighting of outside. Note to self, get extra light bulbs for the porch lights. Whoever it may have been was not making any more noise. It was a man with a broken glass bottle. Cautiously, I knelt down and took the bottle out of his hand. From the steps, I smelled the huge rank smell of bourbon around the man. He reeked of alcohol and sex. He was definitely wreaked in it. I poked him with my bat, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when he started to move. He lifted his face, which I couldn't see very well due to the darkness and bad lighting outside, and spoke in a raspy tone. "Where am I?"

"Richmond, Virginia. Who are you?" I asked him.

His voice blanched. Confusion etched in his face, looking at me with a blank look. "I don't know." Then he passed out again unconscious. I breathed out a heavy sigh. I really didn't want mess with this stranger, but I was raised better than that. I can't just leave him out in the cold. Do I really know what I'm doing? Nope, I don't.

I pressed my hand against my forehead trying to message my temples from the pain of the looming headache coming on. "There goes my quiet weekend."


	3. It's Alive!

**A/n: Hello again! Fireworks here! I hope that I'm not going to give such a long author's note this time. Anyway, we finally get to see Damon make his get entrance. I left a little bit of a cliffhanger. I know you're probably wondering about what's Damon deal with not knowing who he is. Well, that's my little secret for now. Now, I have a question for all of you. I did plan to make this coming from Caroline's point of view, but would you like glimpses of Damon's view here and there to make this more enjoyable. If you want more of Damon's point of view, please tell me in the reviews when you get the chance. I'm going to try to keep the characters in sync so expect the Daroline banter between each other. Tell me what you think of it. **

**Oh, to those on Fanfiction that lived in the northern states who got affected by Hurricane Sandy, I am truly sorry and I'll make sure to keep you in my prayers. God help you through these troubled times. **

**I would like to thank all those who reviewed! thisheartbeatsforyou, cenation123, DamonLover86, VampCaroline, and DarolineKlaroline!**

**Chapter Theme Song: Sink or Swim by Tyrone Wells**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. **

Chapter 3: It's Alive!

"Clara, come on! Your father is going to be here any minute. "

"Coming!" Clara called loudly coming down the stairs into my bedroom. Normally, I would have told her to quiet down. However, for today, that wasn't the case to call for it. Besides, she could wake up the certain "houseguest" sleeping on my couch in the living room.

More like a stray, if you take my word for it.

Clara and I sat in the middle of the bed with her in my lap. I had pulled up my Skype account, and had it set up before Clara had eaten her lunch. It's twelve o'clock now, so it should be around five or six in the afternoon now. My web cam window popped up onto the screen. There in the screen was my child's father. He was still handsome as usual. I kept my breath in trying to hold it together. I hated how that residual attraction was still there after all these years. I'm over him, but there was a part of me in my heart that cared for him.

"Hello, my little love."

"Hi, Papa." Claire greeted him with genuine affection. He was especially proud of her calling for him. He had told me before in the pregnancy while we chatted that he wanted her to call her that. I really didn't know why he wanted her to do that, but I just took the idea as some English preference or idea. I never really thought of it. He just gave her a proud smile on his face. He had always been proud of her as his flesh-and-blood. He knew she was his daughter. You cannot beat genetics.

"Hello Caroline." Oh, that accent. I still blushed every time he said my name that way. He still cared about me, no doubt about it. Both of us though had to move to other things. It was nice to know that he ultimately care for both of us despite the living situation. He wasn't being a jackass about it as I've seen what other had done. At least, I had that to my advantage.

"Hey, Klaus. How are you?" I asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Can't complain. It's just the usual. London hasn't changed that much since you last came to visit."

I remembered the last time I came to visit to England. I never went to London personally, but he invited us to a family vacation with his family to a beach house in the city of Bournemouth that situated in Dorset County. It was late in the summer around Labor Day weekend. He took that to his advantage, and he invited us to have a vacation. I wanted to make it special for Clara so I couldn't decline the offer. Thankfully, it wasn't awkward as I thought it would be. Your only child does tend to take most of your attention from what's on your mind.

Gosh, I remembered how nervous I was when I first met his family to show their new grandchild. I felt like I was being observed from a microscope. However, I had come to find out that their family wasn't that uptight as I thought they were going to be. I liked Elijah the most. He was the most kind of them all. From what Klaus had said, Elijah was the oldest child and the most kind and honorable person he'd ever grew up with. His brother, Finn, I really couldn't say much about him. Then there was his younger brother, Kol. He was a bit of perverted flirt when he was around me. His younger and only sister took a while to get to know because she was **very** protective of her favorite older brother. The last sibling I met in that family was his younger brother, Henrik. He was the quietest of them all, and I hardly heard a sound from him.

His parents never really approved of me. Esther was nice and polite to me, and she loved Klara, which I was thankful of. Nevertheless, I knew she never approved of the fact that my daughter was not born from wedlock. At least she put effort into trying to make me feel welcome.

His father or stepfather, Mikael, never approved of me at all. But, seriously? When did he ever approve anything of Klaus's achievements or successes? If there was any mistakes of his part, Mikael was going to be the first to know and the first to rub that in his stepson's face. There was always a presence he gave off when walking into a room that just made me want to crawl under a rock and not come out for the rest of my life. If I ever came to visit, he would always just stay in his study drinking gin and doing God knows what. And personally, I really didn't care. Thank God, he never came on the vacations.

Speaking of vacations, Klaus took me to the coastal town of Bournemouth. I loved that beach house he had. We were in just walking distance of the beach. There was an array of little shops down the boardwalk stretch by the beach house a little ways from there. It was peaceful and quiet where no busy and loud people didn't bother us. I was thankful for that. As much of a social butterfly, I was not comfortable with big crowds.

"Caroline?" Not distracted by my thoughts no longer, I turned my attention back to Klaus. My ears just kept hearing my daughter jabbering like a monkey in a tree. She tended to be a chatterbox when she got excited about to see her papa.

"Huh?"

"Clare, why don't you go ahead to your room and play while I talk to your mother?" He urged her.

"Awww…I want to talk with you more," Clara whined not wanting to go away.

"Come on, my little love. I need to have an adult conversation with your mother. If you do this, I promise you I will talk to you all you want tomorrow with no interruptions. Can you do that for me?"

"Cross your heart?" Clare did said motion over her chest.

"Cross my heart," he mirrored her actions, "now, let me talk to your mother."

"Okay. I love you, Papa."

"Love you too." Quick as a flash, she ran out of my bedroom and from what I heard footsteps going up the stairs. Now my attention with Klaus was undivided, and we were alone. I sighed. Well, isn't this is just perfect?

"It amazes me how much of you in her."

"You kidding? If anything, she's almost a clone of you." I joked around, but I knew he had some news for me though to tell. He would not have dismissed Clara so early unless it pertained something important only for me to know because she was too young to deal with some of these things. "Come on, Klaus. Just say it."

"What am I supposed to say?" He asked me.

"Klaus, I've known you for almost five years. If I learned anything, you're not the type to make small talk when it comes to big issues. And from the way you're making the small talk, I'd hate to say that the new news you have to tell me is big of itself. So, you might as well get it over with while I'm here."

A silent moment came upon us. This had to be big news for him to hesitate like this. "Your powers of observation never cease to fail you. You're right, though. There is something of a very important matter I need to discuss with you. "

Here it comes. "Which is?"

"Caroline, I'm getting married."

…what? Klaus…marriage…someone else…

"When?" I said with a forced smile. Damn, what a time to drop the bomb on me.

"In the spring of next year. I wish I had told you sooner." Oh, geez! Now, he wished he could have said it sooner. I wanted to yell at him, but I couldn't do that to him. To be honest, I was too shell-shocked to be angry.

"How long have you been engaged?" I dared to ask.

"Almost four months." Wow, he actually didn't beat around the bush. Yeah, like that helps much at all. Please dearly note the sarcasm in my head was way up in the sarcasm scale. It's sharply increasing. What made me even more shocked was that he knew this on vacation? Damn it, why do I always get in these stupid situations?

"MAMA! IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!"

Oh, shit! "Sorry, Klaus! I have to go! Bye!"

"Wait! What's going-" I didn't have to listen to him finishing his sentence as I slammed the laptop down, and ran down the hall into the living room. What added even more to my irritation was the incessant barking of my dog!

"God, someone shut that dog up!" I heard a male voice demanded. My eyes came upon onto the man I had found last night, and laid him on my couch. I finally saw what he had looked like now that it was definitely brighter outside. (In addition, it's the middle of the day too.) He sat on the edge of the couch holding his head in his hands. The hangover must have been worse more so from all the bourbon he probably had drank that I had smelled last night. I couldn't see his covered face, but he had a full head of almost black hair you'd thought that it looked like a rat's nest. His outfit was dark ultimately matching the dark mood I predicted he's going to probably be in for a while. I knew the hangover stuff all too well. This was only the beginning because not only was he drunk on his ass; he had the hangover, and with a cold combined. It was a triple whammy of life just laughing at you in the face, and you cannot do anything about, but suck it up.

Last night or more like earlier this morning, I just left him there on the couch and I had put a blanket on there to keep him warm. Later after I had awoken up, I did the courtesy of taking off his shoes and jacket. I walked towards, but I kept my distance from him not knowing if he wanted his space so I went with the easier approach. I told Rowdy to go outside, and thankfully, he went on his merry way. My daughter on the other hand, proved to more than just a handful. "Baby, go back to your room. I'll meet up with you in a second."

"But-" She started, but I had to cut her off.

"Go!" I rarely had to raise my voice to tell her to do something, but I was out of options, and I needed to get this situation straightened out. Clara scurried out of the living room, and headed up the stairs down the hallway.

Now, returning to the issue. "Okay, I know you feel like crap right now, but I need to take a look at you that way you don't have any other injuries I don't know about."

"What are you? A miracle worker?" He asked me. Is it possible for someone to act like a smartass even while they're sick as he is? Yes, it is. Two can play at that game.

"You're not the first one to ask. And you're going to get the same answer I gave the rest of them. Nope, I'm not. Just doing what I have to do. Now, let me see your face." I pried his hands off his face, and I got full view of his face head on. He had one black and purple eye swollen shut while the other eye was red around the eyes due to the drinking. His face was littered from bruises of many colors as if I've seen too many purple Skittles mashed into his face. Then I looked further down with his nose crooked, and he had a split-busted lip. Then I saw the huge bump on his head from within his hair. Holy crap, it was huge! I stomped the urge to comment on his injuries, and just focused on what I had to do next. I felt his forehead jumping back a little bit from reacting to his hot skin. I didn't need a thermometer to know he had a fever sky high.

"And that is?" God! What is this? Twenty questions? Who knew he would talk this much while he's that sick? Where are the knockout drugs when you need them?

"I need to get you better that way I don't have a guilty conscience."

"Oh, that's so sweet of you, Blondie. I think this is my lucky day. Being taken care of by a hot mama." Okay, now it's time to bring out the drugs.

"Look, you're sick like a dog. And probably, you're not going to feel better after just one day so just lay back for a minute while I get you some medicine." Before he could say some smartass remark, I went into the kitchen and sought my way through with all of the congestion, headaches, and cold medicine I could find. I took out my stash of NyQuil and ibuprofen to measure how much he needed. Knowing what I was taking on, I knew he was going to be sick for a while. Therefore, I went ahead and took four ibuprofen pills out of the bottle, and poured a glass of fruit punch into a glass. Water does not always help trying to get rid of the taste of pills so I always used Crystal Light to wash it out. I left the bottle of NyQuil on the counter, and made my way back to the stray. Wait! I meant houseguest. Oh, whatever!

"You're migraines aren't going to go away anytime soon so take these four pills while you're at it. Trust me; two is never enough of get ridding of the pain." I said in my usual professional tone I would use at the hospital with the patients. I knew what he was feeling. It was like having your heart and brain switching places; it felt like you can hear your heartbeat inside of your skull just pounding against it until you can't take anymore.

"Oh, I'm sure it's this is so going to help." Here he goes again with the smartass tone. I'm going to be so glad when he passes out from the medicine. I can get some peace and quiet for a little while. I had gotten the NyQuil medicine in time, and I made him open his mouth. "Now, drink this and don't complain. It always tastes like crap."

He drank a good measure of the bottle until I saw his eyes fluttering to close within minutes. I started to put the medicine away, and checked on him one last time before I would go to see Clara on what she was doing. That man was out for the count, and he wasn't waking up anytime soon. Thank, God.

I headed up to my daughter's room seeing her on her bed reading _The Cat in the Hat. _That was also one of her favorite books. She had wanted the plush stuffed animals of a fox and a genuine _Cat in the Hat _plush too for Christmas or her birthday. Christmas was a little while away so I had to buckle down soon on getting gifts.

I knocked on the edge of the door leaning against the threshold. "Clara, if you ever scare me to death like that again, I will make sure you are grounded for a week with no desserts and no TV. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am. But, didn't you say he looked like he was dead?" She asked.

I stiffened up in embarrassment. Did I really say that earlier this morning? Oh, crap.

"Is that why you were freaking out earlier?"

"Yup."

"Well, now that you know he's alive, can we just get on with our regular day?"

"Yes, Mama." Then she went on as if nothing had happened. Good enough for me. I knew I was in for a long weekend, so I grabbed my diary from my room, and camped out on my recliner keeping myself busy as I watched my stray snore drugged up from the pills. I couldn't prevent the chuckle that escaped my lips. He truly looked like the people snoring in the commercials for sleeping medicine from the NyQuil Company. It was funny straight up.

_Dear Diary, _

_I decided to write an early entry because I'm probably right in predicting that the "stray" that I managed to notice my way home. Somehow, the night I first spoke to the person when I tried to find out who he was, he said he didn't know who he was. Personally, I'm hoping that's just the alcohol talking to not actual memory loss and me. I want to help him, but I have my own life to run. The list of what I have to do just keep getting longer and longer by the day. Let's not forget, my period is really having a party inside of me because I feel worse now than I did last night. THE CRAMPS ARE HORRIBLE!_

_And, oh! You remember, Klaus? Oh, yeah. Today was the usual. I always used Skype and my web cam in order to let my daughter communicate and have a good relationship with her father. It still sucks that there is still a part of my conscious that feels for the man. You'd that I would be over it by now by how long I have been successfully single for the last four or how many years have gone by. I mean sure, there were a couple of dates here and there, but there wasn't that certain spark. I know I'm crazy saying this, but that's the only way I can describe it. I don't remember anymore. And, guess what? Klaus had news for me. He's getting married! Seriously! He had to tell me now of all the times! _

_It's not that I'm not happy for him. It's so sudden for me. I really don't know. I guess, I was so used to Nik just paying attention to me and my daughter that I never thought things would change. There is…I hate to admit it, but I think there are some residual feelings left for him. I cannot deny it. It's impossible. I mean, hey! I'll always love him, but I am not __in_ _love with him. I don't even remember the last time I was even in that phase. It seems like a lifetime. _

_I need to remember to ask Klaus whom he's marrying, because I just don't want some gold digger marrying him. The woman he marries better treat my daughter right. Ain't no two ways around it. I also have to find out who that man sleeping on my couch is. I'm wondering if maybe I should call him Smartass from now on. Heck, he started calling me Blondie. Yeah, like that is going to fly. I better go. Taking care of him is going to probably be more difficult than the time I had to take care of Clara when she had a week case of colic. And that was a very bad week of it. I better go now. I'll write to you again soon. _

_Truly, _

_Caroline Forbes_


	4. Blurred

**A/n: Hi, y'll! I am glad you enjoyed the last chapter! I've watched some more of the fourth season of TVD, and I'm probably making the same point that other people have come to take. I'm sure that there are many other different opinions on this. Okay, let's talk about Damon for a second. As we all know, Damon has the biggest list of issues in the series. We all have seen the way he is now in the series. But, not all that happened overnight. Cause and effect. He was always second best to his brother Stefan, the women he loves always pick someone else, and let's not forget he's always being tossed aside. After all that, you'd think that he would want to get out of that, right? I'm going to stop blabbing on and off and just let you read on with this chapter. I don't know how I'm going to fit Damon's view-point on this, but I'm going to fit it in somehow. And just for the hell of it, I decided to try Damon a shot. Tell me what you think of it. Anyway, for now you also get to enjoy Caroline. Just to make sure, Caroline has her own problems to deal with. She's still the selfless and compassion character we care about. I'm trying to encompass the banter dialogue between the two. **

**Most of the couples you've seen so far is Daroline and Klaroline. I'm not spoiling the next couples coming up soon. I want to keep it as a surprise. Oh, how do you like the friendship between Katherine and Caroline. Kat's one of my favorite characters, and I love writing her even though it's my first time. She's fun and bitchy. At least she admits it. Are there any other characters you want me to bring out? Mention in the reviews, and I can see what I can come up with. Tell me what you think of the chapter? Am I getting the characters right? **

**Please review! Reviews make me very happy! My plot bunny has been more active than it has been in a long time. Its ideas are juicy. Hehehehe…**

**On with the show! A little heads up though: the italics in this chapter are not flashbacks. **

**I would like to thank those who reviewed: Guest, thisheartbeatsforyou, AnnaBelle89, and DarolineKlaroline. **

**Chapter Theme Songs: Echo by Jason Walker and Poker Face by Lady Gaga**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries. **

Chapter 4: Blurred

_Black. Black was the color that he was always familiar with. It was always his favorite color. He always wore in his clothes. It gave him a certain look he had preferred for a long time. That sultry vibe oozed charm and class wrapped up in a bow. But, this was different. It was a completely different spectrum of black. It was the blackness of the mind. _

_Most of the time, there was a seamlessly never-ending darkness that swept over him. No stars. No lights. Just complete pitch-black darkness. There was no end. _

_He couldn't see anything. Too dark. Too dark. It was too much. It was too much. Putting an effort to try to move became obsolete too as well. He felt so heavy as if someone added a ton of lead to each leg and arm of his body. _

_Yet, he still felt everything through his senses. _

_The pounding in his head never ceased to stop. It kept going and going driving himself to the edge of his rope. The headaches were as if someone had taken a hammer and just banged it against his skull. The constant pounding took him over the edge and he didn't know when it would stop. _

"_No!" He would shout repeatedly yelling at the darkness. All he wanted was for the pain to end. He wanted his whole nightmare to be brought down to its knees._

_He was so cold. Whatever the problem was, he had a hard time keeping warm no matter how much he begged and cried. Why couldn't he get warm? _

_The worst of it all was the voices. All of the loud voices that never stopped yelling at him in his head. In addition, he didn't even recognize them. The voices were always onto him. Just picking and picking until there was nothing left of him as if he was the prey for the ever-starving vultures. He couldn't think. He couldn't breathe it was so suffocating. He sobbed for anybody to hear him. He wanted help. He didn't want to be alone in this nightmare. _

"_Don't leave me alone!" he cried out. He felt the stinging tears go down his face, and there was no way he could stop him. Then….there was a brief silence. The lowest hum of a sound could be heard, but eventually that sound grew and grew. He braced himself for the impact, but moments later, there was no harm befallen unto him. _

_That was when he heard it. _

"_Shh, it's all right. I'm here." The welcoming voice surprised him, but in a good way. The voice was gentle and compassionate. It always kept going. It never left him. Waves of relief wash over him like gentle waves from the ocean. Back and forth. Back and forth. It was almost as if he was being rocked. _

"_I'm not leaving you."_

_There was also the warm it gave off. It would always be there comforting him. Warmth that just he craved so much that he just wanted to drown it. He wanted to wrap himself in the warmth like a blanket and never be separated from it. _

_Soon, he drifted to a finally, peaceful slumber. That warm voice may have quieted, but the warmth was never gone. It was always with him. _

**{Wide Awake}**

It's been four days since I found him on my doorstep. Four days equaled to five thousand, seven hundred, and sixty minutes. I swear, I hadn't been this tired since…well, in a long time.

It was Tuesday morning. I was plopped up on the recliner reading up on some old medical books trying to brush up on my skills. I always had to do that due to my job. I'm very capable at the field I worked at for two years now, but it doesn't hurt to be ready. I chose a nursing job because I wanted to help people. I wanted to do something with my life.

I had to admit. Even though I was a little reluctant to take this on, I couldn't leave that man out in the cold. I didn't have a heart of stone. What I didn't realize was the full extent of the damage he had let himself go through when he came to my doorstep.

The first two days of were the worst.

He always came in and out of consciousness. If I really didn't see that well, I would have thought he's just been asleep going through a nightmare. His sickness was all over the place. His temperature never came down enough. It always jumped up and down, and it would repeat itself. But despite his temperature, his body shook with chills with his teeth chattering as if he was outside in the cold even though I brought him inside.

What really tugged on my heartstrings was the crying out. He cried out incoherent words I never understood with his raspy breath. He yelled to unknown demons of his nightmares I couldn't figure out.

Most of the time, I heard his voice yelling out, "No!"

It was later that second night he laid there on my couch when I knew my heart just wanted to mend up whatever was ailing him. It had been late that night. Clara was asleep leaving the mysterious stranger and me in my living room. I had watched a movie with just the closed captions on when this sad, broken, and desperate voice cried out, "Don't leave me alone!"

My heart broke out for the lost soul. What really hurt me was that here was a man hurt beyond repair, and I didn't even know what it was. I knew then at that point that he was going to have to stay longer than I previously thought. I wanted to help him. I had to because if I didn't, I would regret it for the rest of my life. I didn't need that guilty weight on my shoulders. It was then in that next moment, I pulled up a chair next to him and I grabbed his hand.

"Shh, it's all right. I'm here," I comforted him. I stayed with him the rest of the night until the early morning of the third day because of my hand getting numb from holding his. I had to take care of him so I had went ahead and brought her to Katherine's that day so she could get out of the house. Kat didn't mind having her over. Therefore, before I left, I put two more blankets on him to add on the previous two he had the night before to keep him warm. I grabbed his hand and whispered to him, "I'm not leaving you."

I had to be thankful that Clara hadn't played twenty questions about the stray I had picked up. Rowdy was still his usual protective self. Rowdy always watched every little move he made. At least, he was quiet about it.

It was after a little bit of the third morning, he was finally started to make better progress. The fever was slowly going down after all the medicine I kept giving to him. There were times I was tempted to bring him to the hospital, but I decided not to. I figured whatever drama brought him here was enough as it was. He needed peace and quiet.

Most of the time now, he had slept it off from all the NyQuil I had given to him. The bruises around his face were going away bit by bit every day. I'm hoping the headaches were gone by now too, but I wasn't sure. I called the hospital that Monday morning saying that I was going to be busy taking care of Clara "being sick with a cold" for the rest of the week. It was only a little white lie. I had to enough sick days to use up anyway.

I heard a low husky groan coming from the couch. I turned my eyes seeing the man fluttering his eyes open and struggled to sit up. I felt like I hovered over him too much so I decided to see what he would do.

So, he's alive after all…

He took off the four blankets off with a bit of struggle before he got up. He stood up wobbly and stumbling like a newborn colt makings its first steps.

"Whoa!" I said trying to help him up off the floor, "Let's get you to the kitchen. I know you're probably starving."

Lord knows I would have been the same excessively. I'm surprised he didn't say anything to me as I got ourselves into the kitchen, and I placed him on the of the dining room chairs. I already made two ham and cheese sandwiches in front of him with a glass of milk in front of him to help with the hunger.

"Go on," I urged him. "Eat."

He didn't need me to tell him twice. Within ten minutes, he wolfed down the two sandwiches and the glass of milk I gave him. I didn't know what else he wanted so I figured I could make a pot of coffee just to pass the time.

"Is there anything else that you want?" I asked him.

"I just want to wake up and stay up this time. But, a cup of coffee would be good." Yes, he's definitely feeling better. The smartass was back.

Personally, I was never a coffee drinker when I was younger. However, that changed when I stayed up on those nights taking care of Clara when she was a baby. Then there were times I needed to keep up with a late shift at the hospital. After drinking it for a while, I developed a craving for it.

"Any preferences of what coffee you want?"

"Doesn't matter," he replied.

I picked out a random flavor of coffee from the Starbucks coffee set I had. That was a different story for a different time. As I started making the coffee, I studied him as he kept looking around the room. My observations of him were about the same until I looked into his eyes.

Oh, my God.

The only way I could describe them were…beautiful. It was unlike any other blue eyes I've seen in my life. They were an electric blue color I've never seen before. It was as if I could see little blue sparks in his eyes. They were even lighter than my own. I took a double take again, and it all came together. This man was hot with a capital H.

What are the odds of this? Even I didn't know.

I was finished with the coffee, thankfully. I walked over two mugs of coffee and sat across from him. It was nothing, but silence until Rowdy decided to make a huge entrance albeit a very loud one. He ran straight to him barking in his face. "WOOF! WOOF!"

"Will that dog ever shut up?" He complained covering his ears.

"I'm so sorry. Give me a second." I grabbed him by the color, and shuffled him out into the front yard. I still heard him outside barking at me and whatever-his-name-is. "Sorry, about that. No matter how much you tell him, he'll never shut up."

"I'm learning that now, unfortunately," he said drinking his coffee. As I was about to drink mine, my attention changed to Clara who came down the stairs in her red Minnie Mouse pajamas walking towards me.

"Baby, what are you doing up?"

"Rowdy woke me up. Hey, Mama? Isn't that the-" I cut her off before she could say something that'll embarrass me.

"Yes, Clara. That's the man I found the other night, and now he's feeling better. I want you to go get dressed and come back down here so I can make you breakfast, okay?"

"Okay."

As she headed back up the stairs, I turned back to him trying to get old of the situation at hand. It was getting very tiresome not knowing what his name was, and he didn't even know it himself. What was I going to do?

"Look, I'm going to brief you on what happened if that's what you want. It's up to you now because I don't know who you are. And from what you told me, you don't know either. I hope that it was only the drinking talking to me. Now, tell me honestly. Do you know your name?"

The man's eyebrows arched up incredulously. "I'm sure I remember my name. I just think that maybe your blonde hair dye may have messed with your brain."

What?

"Excuse me? I'll have you know I am a natural blonde, thank you very much." I exclaimed. Damn. When do I ever let people get on my nerves like that?

"Relax, Blondie. I'm only joking." He had his hands up in surrender.

For some reason, I really didn't believe him.

"Yeah, sure. I'll take your word for it. But really, do you remember your name?"

I watched him as his forehead furrowed in deep thought. It took all I could to keep myself from screaming and pulling my hair out. Oh, please remember it. Please remember it. But that hope was thrown out the window with his face deep in frustration making me exhale in exasperation.

Great. Just great.

"We're going to have to call you by some name because if not, we're going to have serious problems. " How am I going to do this?

"And how are you going to do that?" He asked me.

"Easy. When in doubt, look it up on the Internet." Within a few minutes, I grabbed my laptop, put it on the table, and got online. He came up behind me watching my every move as I went through Google searching. So, I decided to click on the first site that popped up: . I knew I was crossing some huge lines here, but I really don't care now. This smartass needed a name, and I was sorely tempted just to stick with stray or smartass.

I felt his presence behind me as he leaned over watching every move I made. I felt his head against mine getting a whiff of his scent. Wait. Is that…

"Oh, my God!" I leaped out of my seat several feet away from him protecting my nose from the horrible stench of sickness, man-stench, and no shower. It's a shame I didn't smell it before.

"What did I do now?"

"When was the last time you took a shower? Seriously!" God, it smelled horrible even for a hottie like him.

"But, I don't smell that bad," he lifted his arm and smelled his armpit. As he sniffed I couldn't help, but hear him struggle to breathe a little through his sinuses. Yup, he was still stuffed up. It was better than having to deal with a fever, I will admit to that.

"Dude, I don't know when's the last time you took a shower, but we can take care of the name situation thing later. First, you go take a shower. Follow me upstairs, and I'll help you out." I proceeded to the upstairs to get clothes from the other bedroom with Smartass following me. You know, I'm actually considering calling him that if he kept going with the remarks.

"Oh, so is that an invite because I would be happy to oblige."

I stopped dead in the middle of stairs becoming quiet. I turned my head toward his gaze. I couldn't stop glaring at that stupid smirk of his. Is he really meaning this? The last thing I need is a one-night stand with him and my daughter with her super-hearing coming down the hall. Oh, I'd probably die of embarrassment. Therefore, I gave Smartass here a piece of his own medicine. "Let's just put it like this. Without your license, I.D., wallet, or your memory to help you out, I am your only option. Unless you want to do this the hard way."

He padded his pants and shirt searching for his wallet, but no success was coming in any time soon. I wasn't being nosy. I just took a guess, but I wasn't going to let him know that.

"Okay, you got me. But, if you don't mind can you just help me?" Oh, now he's getting frustrated. Oh, aren't we all are. Life's tough. He can get over it.

"Be a little nicer and maybe I will." I warned him fully facing him. I was only a bit taller due to where we were on the stairs, but I was going to let some smartass intimidate me.

"Are you always this annoying?"

"Are you always acting like a jackass?" I fought back at him.

"Touché."

"Good, maybe that will shut you up for a while." We walked back up the stairs again reaching the second floor. I hurried into the guest bedroom; got some old clothes my dad donated to me, and scrammed out of the room. Thankfully, I was fast enough to get in and get out without any delays. That was thanks to the four years of being head cheerleader in high school. I handed a pile of neat folded clothes to him, and showed him to the bathroom.

"Here's the clothes you can borrow until we can get you some. The shower is over there. I don't care what you use. I need to go to the store anyway to restock on my stuff. And whatever you do, don't give me the full flash show of yourself if you come out. If anything, wear a towel. That helps."

"You still coming?" He asked me again.

Dammit!

"Just take your damn shower!" I reacted to him aggravated. And just to make things worse, he had his smug victory smirk on. I stomped away from the door when I saw Clara peeping out of her bedroom.

"Are you two fighting?" she asked me with concern in her tone.

"No, baby. We just got a little excited that's all."

"Okay. But I have a question."

"Sure, you can ask me anything." I reassured her.

"What did he mean by 'an invite he would happy to oblige'?" I stood there frozen with only the corner of my right eye twitching. Did she ask me what I thought she just asked me?

I laughed nervously like a broken record. "Just something for adults to chat about. Go on and play. Mama's got to take care of things downstairs."

"Okay." Thank God for children's oblivious attention spans. I walked back down the stairs, and walked back into my computer. As I was searching, a window popped up on my computer screen showing me about my updates for my computer that needed to be installed. I had the time.

"What the hell? Won't do me any more harm than to kill time." As I let my computer update, I grabbed my diary from the living room and started to pour my feelings out as usual into it.

_Dear Diary, _

_Hopefully, no one will be subjective to my language on this specific page. I don't want Clare to be influenced by this. But, what I have to say is not very nice. I hope this is a short entry too. _

_THAT SMARTASS IS DRIVING ME INSANE!_

_I can't believe I felt sorry for this jackass! He drives me completely nuts! He's the biggest flirt I have ever seen and I just-. He makes me want to pull my hair out! And the worst part! He's the sexiest thing on two legs that I have ever seen in my life! Look at me! I'm acting like I'm in high school all over again! Damn these stupid hormones! _

_I can't get over his eyes. They have the lightest shade of blue I have ever seen in my life! There are even lighter than my own! Why am I a sucker for blue-eyed men? I am never going to know that answer anytime soon. _

_I had better come up with a name for this guy before it's too late. Because if I don't, I'm gonna have to start calling him Mr. Jackass or Smartass if he keeps going down the dangerous trail of getting his ass kicked by me. I don't care. I've got enough shit to do than me having to deal with whoever he is. He needs to get his memory back before I do something I will regret. _

_I will never admit this aloud, but that man is the sexiest guy I have ever seen in a long time. I'm treading into the unknown. Wish me luck 'cause I'm going to need every once of luck I can get. _

_Truly, _

_Caroline Forbes_


	5. Trip to Wallyworld! Oh, the joy

**A/n: oh, my God. I've gotten over a thousand views on this story. And, I've only started this a couple of weeks ago. Yay! Anyway, I'm predicting the story will only have twenty chapters. Maybe a bit over that number. I really don't know. It's too early to tell. I hoped I stayed true to Damon's nature in the last chapter. I kinda had the thought of starting a Bamon fic too, but I want to complete this before I try that out. **

**I'm going to warn you on this chapter! I'm not really into this chapter all too well. I kinda have writer's block with this one. I tried it out the best I could. It's not the best one I made so far to me. So, just bear with me on this. Anyway, please review! **

**Chapter Main Theme: One Way or Another by Blondie**

**I want to thank those who reviewed, story alerted, and favorite my story: TeamStefanBitches, DarolineWritingGoddess, XDarkParadiseX, AnnaBelle89, and starzee! **

**A special thanks to starzee! I'm telling you that she's the one of the best Daroline authors on this site! Read some of her stories, and you'll see what I mean. **

**Also, a special thanks to DarolineWritingGoddess! She also helped me with the story a bit that helped me a lot. She's also a good writer on this site too! She has a couple of Daroline stories, but she also has a great story about two girls ending up in the VD world. Read it!**

**Note: If I use italics, it would be for either the diary entry of Caroline or something else. I'd like to think that you have enough sense to distinguish what it is. **

**Oh, did you watch the last episode? I saw the promo for the next episode. Katherine's finally back! She's like one of the best characters on there to me! Totally badass! And, now Jeremy's the other chance to get to cure the vampirism. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries! Any of the lyrics on here or the quote I used. **

Chapter 5: Trip to Wallyworld! Oh, the joy...

I was finishing getting dressed in my bedroom, as I looked at myself in the full-length mirror. As always, this was as best it was going to get. I'm not complaining. I'm tall for a woman my age. I'm five feet tall and eight inches. My shoe size wasn't that bad either being a size nine. I couldn't help, but notice the way my body had gotten bigger since my last pregnancy. Clara was a decent size baby born at eight pounds. I blew up like a balloon though, and gained two pant sizes. I was now close to a size four in pants. Sometimes I wasn't satisfied with what I looked like. It was always one of those issues I had growing up as a female.

Today was Friday. It was supposed to be my favorite day of the week. But, as always, God has a sense of humor that tends to play on you. That joke was Damon.

It had been nearly a week since he stumbled onto my doorstep. And, he's already driving me nuts!

In addition, the worst thing about it, he knows it too!

Thank God, my period was over by the middle of the week. I didn't know how much more I could take with that.

He started out small. Usually, I handled men who acted like a smartass pretty well. Most of the time, I'd already had a witty comeback coming on. Trust me when I say I am a very good debater. Easier statement, I was very argumentative when I wanted to be.

Another thing that sucked was that I am…attracted to him. I cannot lie about his dangerously sexy looks. He was definitely a piece of eye candy. I've seen my fair share being around Katherine. She was determined to find someone for me whether I liked it or not so much for my dismay.

"Damon! Get over here!" I called out as I walked into the kitchen ready to leave.

"Alright! Alright! No need to shout, Blondie. You know I have ears, right?" We finally had a name for us to call him by saving us a lot wasted effort. There's a funny story about. I went to the same site I went when I looked up names for my baby once upon a time. I was just looking up random names to see what showed up. Look and behold, I hit the perfect jackpot. Just what I needed to find for Mr. Smartass S stray over there.

It turned out that the name "Damon" was derived from the Greek (damao) meaning, "to tame". According to Greek legend, Damon and Pythias were friends who lived on Syracuse in the fourth century BC. When Pythias was sentenced to death, he was allowed to temporarily go free on the condition that Damon takes his place in prison. Pythias returned just before Damon was to be executed in his place, and the king was so impressed with their loyalty to one another that he pardoned Pythias. As an English given name, it has only been regularly used since the 20th century. Whenever you go on a trip with Klaus, you're always going to learn something with him.

I made him a little old fashioned on purpose. Passive aggressive rocks my socks off! Who knew how old he was with the looks he had? Johnny Depp still looked hot in his forties.

Anyway, my task was to get him clothes that will last him for a little while. Who knows how long it would be before he would gain his memory back?

Oh, the joy.

"You got everything?"

"Obviously. I didn't bring much on my little trip here, didn't I?

Oh, why did I even bother?

"Look, as much as I want to spend the evening coming back with witty remarks; I don't want to. We need to go into town and get you some more clothes. I can't take off more sick days with the holidays already coming up as it is. I mean as much as I don't want to go, I have to anyway."

"Oh, yeah. But, I need to be myself. So, don't even try to change the way I am." Damon eyes darkened a little as he spoke.

Just as I was about to respond, Clara bounced along towards us excited we were going into town. "Come on, Mama. Let's go!"

"Don't knock yourself out, kiddo," Damon yelled out to her right by my ears making me cover my ears in retaliation.

"Damon! Not in my ears!"

"Uh, huh." He promptly ignored me.

Lesson One, fellas: Never say, "uh, huh," unless you want to aggravate us. A surefire way to convince her either that you're paying no attention to what she just said or that you don't care. I promise that neither of those options are good ones. It is true that when a woman asks you a question or for an opinion that she usually has already set her mind on the answer that she wants to hear.

We got into my car with Clara in the backseat behind me. (Just so you know, my car was a used red Toyota Camry 2003 Model.) Rowdy was always watching out for us, kept his eyes on us on the front porch as we drive out of my gravel driveway.

Surprisingly, the drive to Wal-Mart was quiet. I never really liked silence so I turned on the radio. I almost regretted it. The song that played through the radio almost made my ears bleed. I think it was getting to all of us.

_**And I was like baby, baby, baby, ooooohhh…**_

Before I knew it, Damon changed the radio station faster than I had anticipated.

Bad mistake.

A red light coming up ahead, I saw Damon didn't have his seatbelt on. Clara was strapped in, thankfully. I an evil idea formed into my head. An evil, wonderful, awful idea. Ha! Got to love the _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ special.

Red light coming…

Three…

Two…

One…

I slammed on my break earning a small screech, and the force of the break made him lean forward and back again forcing the back of his head to hit the headrest on the seat. "OWW!"

Mission accomplished.

I'm so kicking ass.

Score one for Team Caroline. Team Damon: nothing.

"What the hell! You trying to kill me here?" He exclaimed clutching his head from the impact.

"Speaking the words of the great Dean Winchester, 'Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole.'" I said as I gave him a smug smirk, but it faded when Damon looked at me in confusion.

"What?"

You have to be kidding me.

"Are you serious? You haven't watched Supernatural before? What has the world come down to? Nothing is ever good on T.V. anymore. All I keep hearing about is that vampire romance crap. So let me pick the music and shut up!" I ranted a little. I still saw how Damon looked like he thought I was nuts. Therefore, I browsed through the radio to see if anything was on.

_**I whip my hair back and forth!**_

Click.

_**If only you can see that I'm the one who understands you-**_

Click.

_**Hey, Soul Sister. Ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo?**_

Click.

_**Tik tok on the clock! **_

"Gah! Stupid radio!" I yelled at the radio hitting my hand against the stupid thing.

Then making it worse, Damon and Clara were laughing together at my ranting some to stupid electronic equipment.

"Mama's funny." Thank you, Clara for pointing that out to Mr. Smartass, here.

"Couldn't agree more," he agreed to my daughter as he turned to me again, "Don't worry, Blondie. It'll be okay."

I turned to Damon giving him the biggest glare I can muster. Oh, he was going to near the end of my toleration point.

Lesson two, people: Don't ever say it will be okay. You want to know why. Great. Here's a simple answer. It never works! Don't ever say that! It's annoying! Seriously!

"Okay, I guess I can settle for what I had for the cd." I pressed play for the cd to start, and the first song came playing through the stereo.

_**This time I wonder what it feels like **_

_**To find the one in this life **_

_**The one we all dream of **_

_**But dreams just aren't enough**_

Finally! Something that's finally good! Nickelback was always a band I tended to like. I turned to Damon observing him nodding in satisfaction enjoying the music.

Can you imagine the light just appearing green now?

Wow, I managed to please him at least. We drove a little while longer until we hit that dreaded store: Wal-Mart.

Oh, the stinking joy…

I parked my car into the next available space right by the garden center part of the store. Damon, as always, had to be put his two-sense into everything I did. "Why didn't you park at the closer parking spots?"

"Because, I don't want to deal with idiots who can't park properly. Want to play twenty questions or do you want to get going?"

Damon rolled his eyes at me while I got out getting Clara out of the back of the car. After I got her out, she went straight for Damon and started chatting away. "It's okay. I'm the only one who can get away with it."

Anything else to point out the obvious?

The three of us walked inside with Clara in chatterbox mode. There was a decent amount of people in the store, but it was enough to be weary of others. I hated going to Wal-Mart. Moreover, this was coming from a woman who loved doing retail therapy. I know. How strange am I?

As we headed toward the clothes department, my phone ranged Katherine's ringtone. Also, this was her personal request of me. She wanted my phone to ring her favorite song every time it rang from her number. Low and behold, her favorite song mainstreamed _Do It like a Dude_ by Jessie J. To make things even more interesting, she had to pick the explicit version. Yippee for me.

I answered my phone, "Hey, Kat. What's up with you?" As I talked to her, I silently gestured Damon to go on with Clare ahead while I talked to Katherine.

"_Trust me, Care. When I'm up to something, you'll know it. It's just been a while since we chatted so I thought I can make the time in my precious schedule." _

"Oh, Kat. You don't always do this. Usually, you just come over when you want to." She rather had that privilege of who she was to Clare and me.

"_Like I said, it's been a while. So, where you at?" _

"I'm at the famous place of Wally world. Do me a favor and just shoot me now." Trust me, she would be doing me a favor.

"_Wal-Mart? Why are you over there? I thought you hated that store. Considering, this is from a woman who has shopping listed as one of her favorite hobbies." _Am I that obvious? I guess I ought to know. Katherine sometimes knew me better than I did.

"I don't hate Wal-Mart. I just hate making the trips over there." It was true. It wasn't the store itself I couldn't stand. It's the things inside it. The crappy service, the way they treat their customers, and the way they run the place just baffled me. Don't even get me started on the about the checkout lines too. It makes me want to rip someone's throat out like a damn vampire.

"_Yeah, yeah. Keep on saying that to yourself,"_ Katherine mumbled.

"Besides, it's a long story." I knew I wasn't going to be able to hide it from her long. Might as well save me the effort.

"_Long story, huh?" _

"Yeah." Here it comes.

"_Well, come on Caroline. Give me the details." _She always had a way of finding out information. No matter what you hide, she always ended up finding it someway, somehow. But, the catch was always she was impenetrable when it came to hers coming into the light. Her secrets never came out.

"I'm not so sure right now."

"_Care, have I ever let you down? Have I ever given you the notion to question what I do?" _Did she really ask me this?

"No, to the first question. Yes, to the other one."

"_Oh, pity. May I ask why?"_

"You were on the feistier side." That wasn't even the half of it.

"_I rather say, I'm the life of the party," _she said chuckling to herself, "You tend to be a little dull."

"I can be like that! I can be wild!" Great move, Caroline. Just let yourself react to just a harmless joke. Real nice.

"_Compared to me, you're kind of average."_

"Kat!" See, there you go again.

"_I'm just kidding. Send me the details later, though. Don't get your britches in a knot. Remember, you can't always get away from me, you know." _

"I know. You will always watch me. I'll see you later."

"_Don't you forget it either. I'll talk to you later." _Thank goodness, that was over. I hung up on her, and put the phone back into my purse. I saw Damon and Clara by one of the checkouts looking at the candy. Honestly? I didn't need my daughter on a sugar-high. Clara plus sugar equals madness.

But, it was too late. It was clear just seeing the spots of melted chocolate over her mouth and cheeks. I also saw the now empty wrapper of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. "Clara Klaudia Forbes!"

I knew the choice I made when I put her full name on her birth certificate. I decided to use something for both of us so I chose Clara as her first name, and her middle name was something for Klaus. it was a reminder her that both of us loved her no matter what happened to us.

"Oh, come on. Let the kid have some sweets. It's not that bad," Damon said.

Fine, if he wants to mess around two can play at that game. "All right. No big deal. We can get along, but I'm going to win in the long run."

"Win what?" He said getting more into my space.

"You'll see." I winked at him playfully.

Boy, did he get it. As we went to the clothes department, I browsed around the men's clothing smiling to myself at the outcome of Clara's consumption of chocolate.

The whole time we were there, she was chattering at a hundred miles per hour to Damon at her disposal. I was practically almost laughing the entire time my little ball of energy never ceased to stop. I kept my eyes on both of them to make sure they were okay. I admit that sometimes I was a little too overprotective of her. I still had yet to trust Damon with her alone. I still wanted to watch him and see where it went from here. His memory had not come back yet and I'm still unsure of what I'm going to do next.

As I watched them together, there was an emotion I couldn't place tried to bubble over in my heart. It's nothing, I convinced myself. I pushed it away, and headed on to the rest of my day.

After about an hour and a half of staying in that wretched place, I had to get back home. I was beat and so were the other two. Damon seemed to have a bit of energy left at least. He felt better than I was. I strapped Clara into her seat then dragging myself to the driver's seat. When I was about to get in, I felt a hand touch my shoulder. "Damon?"

"Go sit in the front seat. I'll do it." He ushered me around the other side of the car.

"But, what about…" I tried to protest, but to no avail for he had already beaten me to it. Then he looked at me as if his idea was the most obvious to go along with. Was I really that much of a ditz?

"Just because I don't remember who I am does not mean I don't remember how to drive. Just sleep on the way back. It's been a taxing day."

With no further delay, I strapped myself into the passenger seat and watched the land as it rolled passed us as he drove. Clara was still out like a light by the time we got back to my house. I lazily got out of the car, and made my way towards my bedroom. I didn't even think. It's too hard. I wrote one quick entry in before I slept.

_Dear Diary, _

_No time to explain what happened. I'm just tired and want to get some sleep. I will write more tomorrow. _

_Truly, _

_Caroline Forbes_

As I finished writing the last sentence, my eyes were beginning to droop. So, I quickly changed from my clothes into something more comfortable and sprung into bed. Usually, I never really remembered my dreams unless something major happened. I dreamt of Clara, Damon, and I. All of us were somewhere I didn't recognize. It was a garden of some kind. All of us were happy without a care in the world. His arms were around me, but when he spoke, all there were was silent words. He cupped my face gently raised my head to meet his clear blue eyes.

Then it went dark…


	6. Longing

**A/n: Oh, my god. Two chapters in two days! Or is it three? Nah, who cares? All that matters is that I updated. I love all the support I'm getting with this story. Almost up to 2000 views! I know some of you asked for more Damon/Clara bonding. So let's just saying I'm laying down the seeds of all of this. I'm glad someone noticed the Supernatural note. I'm going to try to add more of Damon in the next couple of chapters. If you can, please let reviews rain down! Lol. I love the support coming in. it inspires me. Is there anything extra any of you would want in the story? Like a character you would want me to bring out or anything else I should emphasize more? I'm still writing the story the way I planned it, but I am open to any extra any of you want to fill in. I'll do the best I can do try to give with that. **

**Chapter Main Theme: And Then You by Greg Laswell**

**I would like to thank all those who reviewed, favorite, and alerted to this story: Guest, DarolineKaroline, VampCaroline, Nicole, and xWrittenInTheStarsx. I also want to thank DarolineWritingGoddess and starzee for supporting this story as well. It makes it extra special to me because they are two of the best writers on here in the VD fandom. Read their stories. I recommend it. **

**Special Commemoration to Guest for noticing the Supernatural note. Dean Winchester will always hold a special place in my heart, though I love Sam and Cass more. **

**I love long reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries! **

Chapter 6: Longing

Early Monday morning was upon Richmond, Virginia. It wasn't long before the sun would rise with the new day on the horizon.

Damon couldn't sleep. He had tried going back to sleep with watching some sitcom marathon playing on one of the channels, but it was to no avail. It wasn't like he didn't want to, but there was too much on his mind. It was hard to sleep these days with unknown memories of his kept crawling around. Even though he didn't remember who he was before, there were subtleties about him that made him the way he was. He couldn't explain it.

One he could name was that he was always an early bird in the morning. No matter how little he slept the previous night, he always came out sprung up and ready. It didn't help much though due to these feelings he had had inside of him. The cause of it all just confused him to no end. What caused him to have all feelings of anger, bitterness, jealousy, and rejection?

He figured the answer would come to him in due time.

However, there were other feelings he could never shake off. Deep down inside of him, these other feelings that were bottled up inside just waiting to come out. As much he had tried, blocking them out, it was getting more difficult as time went by.

As much he would love to be lazy and lay around, he was too bored to do that. Growing curiosity egged him on as he glanced around the house observing his surroundings. It was very homey and comfortable. As much as he wanted to look further around, the manners that were somehow branded into his skull turned on making him stay into the living room until one of them woke up.

What was her name again? Carol? Cara? Wait! Caroline. That was her name: Caroline Forbes.

Certainly, she was a character to behold. Who wouldn't not look to see her walking by as she passed? Damon certainly noticed her. He couldn't deny that to himself.

Outspoken and strong-willed, she was a woman who knew what she wanted. She said what's on her mind. She was always kept him on her toes even though they didn't know each other long. One way to catch a man: be interesting and unpredictable.

She was also beautiful too. Not overly beautiful, but it was just enough for someone to catch a glance to notice. With her blonde wavy tresses and blue eyes, it was sure enough to catch his attention.

Speaking of attention, look whom got his now walking from her bedroom into the kitchen. She wasn't dressed for success for one thing. She had a pair of gray sweatpants on with a white shirt underneath a red plaid flannel button up shirt. Donned on her feet were thick socks, and her blonde hair was in a messy bun. She walked up to the counter and started up the coffee machine. "Want some coffee?"

He nodded. "Sure."

"Surprised I am by your manners in the morning, I don't mind you getting something to eat in the fridge. If you need something, just ask me ahead of time first. I didn't get you that cell phone for nothing." She said as she made a pot of coffee almost tempting to drink the pot. Damon walked up to the sink, and washed off one of the dirty coffee mugs from the kitchen sink not wanting to dirty up any more than what they usually did. When he was done, she had made coffee pot and already made herself a cup. He got himself some, and let the warm liquid go down his throat savoring the dark flavor.

"What flavor is this?"

"It's Community Coffee. It's the dark roast flavor. It's not the usual I pick, but I thought both of us can use the energy. Helps me to get up in the morning." He watched her as she took a huge swig of her coffee almost drinking the thing. As she finished her coffee, she put the empty mug into the sink; she turned to Damon right beside her as he watched her.

"I have to work today since I used enough days with what happened. I'm going to work a late shift tonight to make up for that. I'm bringing Clara with me to the daycare. A friend of mine is going to going to pick her up so you're going to stay here while I'm gone."

"You gonna miss me, Blondie?" He joked to her flirting.

"Yeah, Damon. Whatever you say." He noted to himself the lilt of sarcasm in her tone of voice. He chuckled at her retort. Always keeping him on his toes.

"So, what do you want me to do?" He asked curiously.

"Whatever makes you happy. There's cereal in the cabinet and there's some milk in the refrigerator. I'm going to get ready for my shift, and I need to get Clara ready for eight. So…do what you want."

She had left him alone in the kitchen, and went down the hall tending to her own agenda. He finished drinking his coffee thinking about her. There was the other thing about Caroline. She was a mother. She took the role on with full stride. Caroline did the best she could with her daughter. He couldn't judge her for that.

Soon enough, the tendrils of sunlight spilled out slowly through the windows with morning dawning upon them. It was close to seven-thirty, and Caroline came out with Clara hand in hand. He gave away a small smile to them looking at Clara's outfit with blue denim overalls and her red and green penguin shirt. It was also topped off with kids' tennis shoes, and she had a bright green bow in her blonde hair.

"Look at me! You wanna see my new bow?" She came up to him turning around showing the back of her hair with the sparkly green bow shimmering in the kitchen light.

His eyes softened at Clara. He bent down to her level, and smiled at her. "I see that. It's very pretty on you. Make sure you listen to your mother, okay?"

She gave him a huge smile in return, "Okay!"

He turned to Caroline and took in her appearance. Her long hair was in a low ponytail. She had a white long-sleeved undershirt with dark forest green scrubs over it with also matching pants with plain bleach white nursing shoes. She had her purse on her shoulder with her car keys dangling in her hand. It took him a second to realize that her job was actually a nursing job at the hospital.

She laughed nervously as she said, "We're going to be going now. You know where everything is. If you need anything just call me. I'll see you later."

Without another word, she left with her daughter in tow. He heard the roar of the engine turn on, and the crushing of the gravel as the tires reversed and went straight to their destination. Then going through the dog-door inside the front, the German Shepherd trotted along into the living room. He planted himself on his spot in the corner of the living room where his bed was. The dog's watchful amber eyes never stopped seeing every move Damon made.

Damon's eyes never stopped knowing that Rowdy stalked his every move. If anything, it was annoying. The dog stayed silent and vigilant. With nothing else to do, he settled himself for watching TV. As always, there was hardly anything on except for the trash talk shows like Maury or Jerry Springer. For one television that had so many channels, you'd thought you could find something on to watch.

Nope. Not today.

It was two o' clock later that afternoon when he got a call that would change things for not only him, but also everyone else too.

**Thirty minutes later…**

**(A/n: We see Caroline's point of view now.) **

Not now.

Not now.

NOT NOW!

I kept pacing back and forth frantically in the hallway. There was only one thing on my mind. My baby girl.

"What's taking so damn long?" It was the fifth time I asked aloud. Katherine had left minutes before to bring Damon back from my house to the hospital. She told me not to worry about Clara. But, I couldn't stop worrying. She was too young. Too young to have an injury like this.

"Where are they? Shit!"

My patience was running thinner and thinner and nothing was helping it to get better. It also didn't help the fact they had brought Clara to the hospital I worked at. My superior told me to take a break for a little while since she knew I was always a worried mother hen when it came to her wellbeing.

Katherine always had to get onto me about that. I worried too much about Clara, but I couldn't help it. I was always a worrywart, and there was no stopping it now. No point in doing that. it's only going to come up again soon enough.

Speaking of Katherine, she had a lot to say to me when I called her about what had happened the other night. She seemed cool about it. Most of the conversation was just her giving me advice on…how did she say it? Oh! It was "how you need to tap that." This was coming from a woman who would rather have a one-time fling than an exclusive relationship. She always told me that it's not the women who were high maintenance. The men of the bunch always have something wrong with them. Don't ever ask her about Men or dating because she would give you a whole college lecture practically on the do's and don'ts of it. Though going to her for advice has had helped me in the past, sometimes it's better to get a fresh new face on that subject. However, I will never say that in front of her unless I wanted her to kill me. Figuratively, not literally.

"Hey, Care-Bear!" I heard Katherine's pet name for me being called.

I saw her coming toward me with Damon following closely behind her. Here she came in all of her glory. Damn, she's so lucky. Beautiful, smart, and sexy all wrapped up in one package that made herself Katherine Pierce. How was I so blessed to have a nest friend as her?

I grabbed Kat and she took me into my arms. I was so shaky; it was only Katherine that was able to hold me up. Katherine patted my back trying to calm me down. "She'll be all right. Don't worry, she's a fighter. Just like her mama."

It took everything in my body for not the tears to come out, "Thank you so much. I'm so sorry. I get so emotional when it comes to her. It's just…when she came…in crying…in…pain…I…"

She hugged me tighter as my body shook up from crying with all the stress of what's been going on. What also didn't help was that one of the patients I had previously worked on my route had just died unexpectedly from cancer. I couldn't cry on the job until I was alone, but with my family here, it was too much to bear.

Family…

Kat made me look at her making me stare into those brown eyes of her. "You listen to me because I am only going to say this once. Caroline Forbes, you have nothing to be ashamed of or be sorry for. You are doing the right thing now, and that's being a mother. There is nothing wrong with doing the right thing. I've known you since college. After all the crap we went through together, you have every right to be worried sick about Clara. We'll stick this out. You're my best friend. You're my sister. We're family. Besides, it'll take a lot of shit for me to be separated from the two of you. You can't get rid of me that easily."

I chuckled at her. That's Katherine for you. Cannot change her now, and I'm not going to try to.

Just when I wanted to speak to Damon, one of the new doctors who just came in on the job today walked into the hallway to meet the three of us. She had an average frame. Her skin was a little tanner than mine was, but paler than Katherine's. She had freckles peppered along the bridge of her nose, and had wide hazel eyes. Her hair went down to her shoulders in a deep burgundy color. "Miss Forbes?"

"Yes?"

"My name is Hannah Johnson. I was the doctor assigned to look after her case. We took care of your daughter so she's resting now."

I was going to ask her what Clara had wrong with her, but Damon had beaten me to it. "Can you just tell us what's going on?"

I jumped back a little from the shock of Damon's sharp tone. This was the first time I ever saw like that.

"From the phone call at the daycare, the woman over there told of a child that had tripped down some steps. She didn't know how it happened-"

Damon's jaw clenched as patience ran thin. I saw his baby blue eyes turn to a darker stormy shade that made me shiver inside. "It's obvious that she tripped down stairs. It's not rocket science. Can you at least act like you're doing your job?"

The new doctor glared at Damon, but struggled to keep it professional between the two of them. "I'm sorry, sir. But, if you would let me finish then we can move on."

Without thinking, I laid my hand on Damon's shoulder to hold him steady from reacting to the doctor. Surprisingly, he stayed still. The doctor kept her composure and started to speak again.

"Anyway, the little girl had a pretty nasty sprain from the fall. Other than that being the main injury, she did acquire some scraps along in her fall. We managed to clean her up as best we could so all they can do now is heal within due time. She's going to have to rest of the week and probably a few days next week too. She can't put any pressure on it if she wants to get better. It needs to be iced every two to three hours. You need to make sure she gets an appointment to a pediatrician soon later to check on her progress. And now sir, I think you and your wife would like to see your daughter now without me holding you to any longer."

Damon and I exchanged the same look of confusion.

What?

Husband?

Wife?

WIFE?

"I'm sorry, but he's not my-" That was when Katherine clamped her hand over my mouth making my voice sound muffled.

"Forgive her, please. You know how mothers can be. Such worrywarts. Especially, this one here. Come on, Caroline. Let's go see your daughter."

"And who are you, miss?" The doctor asked.

"I'm her best friend, and I am the child's godmother. I'm family. Aren't I, Caroline?" She gave me a certain look to go along with it as she unclamped her hand off my mouth.

"Yeah. What she said."

"Go on ahead; she's wanted to see all of you." Without further delay, I sped into Clara's hospital room with Damon and Katherine following me not too close behind. Clara's blue eyes brighten as she looked up to see me.

"MAMA!" I gathered her into my arms carefully aware of the extent of her injury. As I let her go, I managed to see that she still had a smile on her face despite what had happened. She was a tough cookie just like her father.

Father…

That was when the doctor's earlier words rang in my head. She had assumed that Damon was my husband making in so doing, Clara's father. That thought merely almost faint. No way. I couldn't think of him like that. I only knew him for practically two weeks!

I guess that now that I was looking Clara, Damon could have passed as her biological father at a first quick glance with the blue eyes between him and me. But, there were intricate details of Klaus that made Clara who she was as an individual. She was truly Klaus's daughter in the body and mind. Sometimes when I look at her, her actions mirrored Klaus so perfectly to the last detail it was unreal.

Clara's face lit up with excitement seeing her Aunt Kat. "Aunt Kat! Whatcha doin' here for?"

"I had to see my little shorty, and see if she was all right. That's what good aunts do." She said as she hugged her niece. I laughed as Clara gave Katherine a look of disapproval.

"I'm not short!" She complained stomping her good foot down on the bed.

"Just relax. You don't need to be moving around. Take it easy." Damon said sitting down beside the side of the bed.

I watched her and Damon as they interacted with one another couldn't helping a small sliver of mushiness bubbling over in my chest. But, that moment was interrupted when Katherine grabbed my attention. "Caroline, we need to talk."

"Sure, give me a second," she left the room and I turned to Damon, "Can you stay with her for a few minutes? I need to talk with Katherine privately."

"Sure thing, Blondie. No problem." There he went again with his signature smirk. It always irked me to no end. Just as I was about to leave, her little voice called out to me.

"Don't leave, Mama!" Her blue eyes shone desperation not wanting me to be away from her. I knew I didn't want to, but I had to take care of the situation. Besides, Damon has been useful. I might as well take advantage of it while I had it.

"Don't worry, baby. I'll only be out in the hall with Aunt Kat. You have Damon all to yourself. He'll keep you entertained." I left the room and headed down the hallway with the smell of Lysol and bleach hitting my nose like a wall. I still never got used to that smell.

"What is it, Kat?"

She stood there uneasy with her arms crossed over her chest. Rarely was Katherine ever like that. It didn't suit her at all. Something was wrong. "Care, I know Clara's going to need care around the clock care for little over a week. And, usually I would help that girl in a heartbeat no doubt."

"I know you would, Kat. But, what's going on?"

Katherine paused and took a deep breath, "My aunt and uncle need help with their little boy. My aunt has to go to a two-week conference out of town, and my uncle has to work during the day. I'm the only one available to help them out. I'm sorry to lie this on you now. Trust me, I don't. I gave a lot of heavy thought on this."

"What am I going to do? I already have to work many extra shifts at the hospital because of the situation with Damon. Now, with this? What the hell?"

"You've wanted another job at a doctor's office. Why don't you use the rest of the week trying to schedule a job interview? Then you have Damon." Katherine explained to me.

Damon?

"What does Damon have anything to do this?"

"Because Blondie, he can help you. Knowing that there's someone there to be able to watch your daughter, you'll be better at ease. I watched him the time when I drove him here. He was worried sick about that little girl. I can trust him completely, and I'm one of the most suspicious people you know. You know I'm right."

I stayed silent unable to go against her just furthering her reasoning. Even I had to agree with her about Damon. Damon had been nothing, but patient and he treated my daughter nicely. He never made any move of ill will towards Clara. But, I still couldn't shake off that paranoid, protective mother wolf side I had. I walked back to the door slowly, and opened the door to a crack giving me a small glimpse of them two. I had to smile watching Clara chatting away to Damon about who knows what. That was when I knew I'm probably going to regret this. I closed the door and turned back to my best friend. I heavily sighed to myself.

"Katherine, I'll go along with this. But, you better be right."

Note to self; make sure to write in my diary that my life was screwed.


	7. Don't Make This Stop

**A/n: Okay! I am doing well here! I've written nonstop! I can't believe I'm almost already up to 40 reviews! Only five reviews away! Yippee! I want to break into the forties. I've had big plot bunnies jumping around in my skull! I am glad all of you like the Caroline/Katherine friendship going on throughout the story. If you have any questions about Wide Awake, please ask them in the reviews. **

**And if any of you have seen the new episode, I hope you can bear with the new Delena madness coming around in the next episodes from now on. Personally, Elena belongs to Stefan. Let Damon have someone who's not going to try to change him into something he's not. Bonnie or Caroline? I don't care. I like the Daroline and the Bamon couple either way. Sometimes you get so tired of the stupid love triangle. I'm sure all the Stelena fans are crying their eyes out now. Personally, I am paying attention more to the Klaroline stuff going on. Klaus is my favorite villain on the show. He's sexy and I love his accent. Who wouldn't? I do like Elijah though. I'm sure all of you know that there will be two main characters who will die this season. If it's either Damon or Caroline, I'm probably going to stop watching it. Who knows? **

**There is not always going to be a diary entry every chapter. But, if I can't fit that in here, I'm going to make a mention of it. There's also a surprise later in the chapter. **

**It takes days to write a good chapter. It only takes seconds to review! Please review this story! It keep me happy and it keeps me going.**

**Chapter Main Theme: Dropped by Phantom Planet (Seriously, you have to listen to this song! It's so cool!)**

**I want to thank those who reviewed, favorite, or alerted to my story: Guest, DarolineWritingGoddess, starzee, Nicole, and thisheartbeatsforyou. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or the lyrics in here! **

Chapter 7: Don't Make This Stop

I desperate tried to finish getting my shoes on as it was only a half hour until I had my interview. When it came to professional clothes, I was a little scarce in that department. I ended up with dark brown professional work pants, a nice orange-pink blouse, a dusty pink to almost beige jacket, beige classic toe heels, and my pink Prada purse. The purse was a hand-me-down from Katherine. With my usual wavy hair, I decided to straighten it, and put it up into a modern sleek ponytail. I couldn't do anything fancy.

There was only one word to describe this morning: rushed.

I had finished my hospital shift early, and went straight home to take care of Caroline. Katherine had stayed with Clara so Damon could get the hang of things. When I had gotten back, she assured me with time and patience, Clara was going to get better. Katherine left and told me to call her if I needed to talk to her. I stayed with Clara most of the time to try making her feel comfortable. She couldn't walk up stairs so the only place we could put her was in the living room with Damon.

I was a little apprehensive of letting my daughter stay with him alone. I'm overprotective of her. I knew it better than anyone did. The only reason I had is convinced of doing this was Katherine's valid argument.

Clara was having a hard time with adjusting to just staying still. Hyperactive as she always was, she never stopped moving. I remembered when I was pregnant with her; she was always kicking me in the womb. Katherine told me she was probably a professional soccer player already. It was our little private joke between us. It took all I had not to reprimand her harshly to make herself keep still.

That whole day and the stress from it all just drained me beyond my resources. I hardly had eaten since I was worried sick about her. By the time eight o'clock came, I was about to pass out from the exhaustion. Damon got onto me about being so reckless about wasting my energy. I was too tired to argue with him so I dragged myself into bed last night. Thankfully, I had to schedule an interview at a doctor's office near my house so the commute wouldn't be bad. This whole morning my brain had operated in overdrive.

Now, you see my dilemma.

To add even more to the chaos, Clara decided to be a brat and she refused to stay still. She also threw a fit about me leaving her with Damon. "No! I don't want you to go!"

"Clara, someone has to take care of you while I'm gone." I tried to explain to her. This wasn't easier for me as it was for her too. I never left her with anyone unless it was with Katherine. But with her gone, I had to try something else. Damon was my only option. What was I supposed to do?

"What about Aunt Kat?"

"She's not going to be able to watch you. She's out of town for a while." I wasn't going to explain it to her again.

"I miss her."

"I miss her too." She truly had no idea how much I would feel better with Katherine here. No offense to Damon, but I only knew him for a short time. Now, I have to do this and I have to trust him? Am I ever going to catch a break?

Speaking of Damon…

"Blondie, shouldn't you be going by now?" he asked me.

Will he ever stop with that stupid nickname?

"For the last time, stop calling me Blondie!" I snapped at him annoyed as ever.

"I'm only telling you the truth. You are a blonde, aren't you?" he mocked.

"Yes!"

Him and that damn smirk, I swear! I'm going to kill him. "Now, here's the kicker. Are you a natural blonde or a bottle blonde?"

I stood there with my back towards him frozen. I slowly turned my head with only my left eye just twitching. Not wanting to react, I did the next best thing. I used my one finger salute to him. "Shove it, Damon. Really." Well, I couldn't say fuck off with Clara in the room could I? Besides, Klaus would throw a whole conniption fit.

Wait.

Klaus…

Oh, no. Now, I have to tell him about this too.

"Good God." I muttered frustrated with things added new to my agenda. I have enough on my plate as it is. Cut me some slack.

"What is it, now?" Damon asked impatiently. I glared at him annoyed as hell. What does he have to be impatient about? I'm the one making sure his ass was not in the frying pan.

"Forget it. I need to get going." Making my leave, I was about to get out of the house until Damon grabbed my arm. He didn't hurt me, but it was enough of a grip to keep me there. "What do you want now, Damon?"

"I just wanted to tell you to just relax. You're making me a little more edgy than usual. And trust me, that's not a good thing," he said to me. Then he brought his head closer to mine and whispered in my ear almost seductively, "You look great too. It'll be all right if you believe so."

Unable to reply to that, blood rushed into my face causing it to turn a deep shade of red. Was he…flirting with me?

"Um…Clara! I'll see you later, baby!" I hurried out of the door and jumped into my car. But, just when I was going to close the door, Rowdy came around putting his paws on my legs. "Get down, Rowdy. I can't get this outfit dirty."

His ears pulled back and whined a bit, but I knew what could both make us feel better. "Personally, I wouldn't be mad at you if you chased Damon's ass all over the place. That's just an idea."

Rowdy barked back in response and headed back into the house. I gave out a heavy breath, and placed my head against the steering wheel closing my eyes.

"God," I started to pray, "I know I don't pray often enough it seems. But, you know I believe in you. I don't know why he came into my life or what purpose he has in it. But, I'm begging you. Help me make the right decisions. I'm going to need all the help I can get."

I drove away from my house and made my way to the new doctor's office they had in town. There was a part for children as there was for adults too only the family practice was in a smaller and friendlier setting. I grabbed my purse with my résumé and walked inside.

I'm going to need all the help that I can get.

**Back at home…**

Damon had his work cut out for him. One slip-up and he can be kicked out of one of the few places that would help him. He couldn't mess this up. Caroline had put her trust in him to take care of the most precious person in her life. Moreover, from what he could tell about her, she never really trusted that many people. He turned his gaze to Clara who was sitting up straight with her legs out in front of her underneath the warm blanket. Her bad ankle had swelled up overnight to twice its original size. There was slight bruising, but it wasn't terrible. Caroline had propped her daughter's foot with a pillow with beige ACE bandages wrapped around her foot.

"So," he started, "are you hungry for anything?"

Clara gave him a quizzical look, "You can cook?"

That's when Damon got washed with a little wave of familiarity through him. Still overconfident and not to back down from a challenge, he boasted, "Sure. I am a man of many talents."

Clara laughed at his antics. Maybe this will be easier than he thought. "How do pancakes sound?"

"Yummy!"

**{Wide Awake}**

"Miss Forbes, Dr. Fell can see you now," The secretary called me over and guided me to Dr. Fell's office. As I walked, there was sights and smells that were new, but familiar at the same time. The secretary knocked on the door and said, "Doctor, Miss Forbes is ready to see you now."

"Send her in," a female voice responded.

The secretary opened the door, and I walked through unsure of what the woman in front of me wanted me to do.

"You can sit down. I'm not going to bite."

I sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk. She wore a dark teal pantsuit under her white doctor's coat. Her dark brown hair was longer than my own, and she had it pinned half of it up in bobby pins. She had dark eyes and slightly tanned skin. She also had a fit figure. She reminded me of Katherine in a way.

"I see that you're looking for a job here," she commented as she wrote down something on her clipboard.

"Yeah. I worked at Richmond General for two years."

"Your reason being?"

I might as well be honest about it. "I have a child of my own, and I don't get to spend enough time with her with my schedule. I needed a job with more flexible hours."

Her dark eyes softened. "I would like to take a look at your résumé for a few days before I come to make a decision. In addition, I need to look at your nursing boards to make sure too. I'll give you a call in a few days, and we'll see where it goes from here. Is that all right with you?"

"Sure, that's fine." I handed her my résumé with a smile, and I walked out of the building.

Wow, that didn't take long. You would think it would have lasted longer than that. This wasn't bad or a good thing, which made it somewhat confusing. When I got back inside of my car, I reached into my purse to find the list of errands I had to run. It still felt like a million things to do. I checked my phone to see if there were any messages. Nothing. I sent two text messages to Damon earlier. Why wasn't he replying?

When I texted him a third time that was when I got his message.

_Stop calling, Blondie. I CAN HANDLE IT!_

Flustered, I replied to him.

_OKAY, JACKASS! Sheesh, I was only concerned. AND, STOP CALLING ME BLONDIE!_

Just when I was about to drive, my phone beeped again. Damon had texted me back.

_Blondie ;d_

I should have known.

**{Wide Awake}**

"That ought to hold her off for a while," he commented as he sent the text from his Blackberry Torch 9800. Why did Caroline go out of her way to get him that phone, he will never know?

It had been hours later since Caroline left. So far, there was no trouble to deal with. Another stroke of familiarity came to him this morning as he cooked breakfast for the two of them. He never would have thought he'd be a natural cook. At least that would increase his chances of being useful around here.

He ended up making a stack of chocolate-chip pancakes. In addition, just to add to it, he added whipped cream on top just for Clara. She was too delighted by it, and it resulted into having a chocolate mess on her face. Not that Damon did not mind, which was a little strange in a sense yet it wasn't. That was until he had to change the bandages and get more ice.

Clara would not have it.

"No!" She protested.

Damon let out a heavy sigh. He knew being that easy was too good to be true.

He tried to be reasonable. "Clara, you know you need to get better. Your mother would kill me if I don't do what she told me."

"I don't care. I don't want ice on my foot. Too cold."

He hated to do this, but this was the only way she'll cooperate. Besides, he can't resist those pretty blue eyes of hers. "I'll tell you what. Instead of ice, why don't we use some a cold towel for now and see how you feel? Is that okay?"

"Okay." Thankfully for Damon, Caroline had positioned Clara to where she could see the kitchen openly so she wouldn't have to crane her head and injure herself any further. But, Clara was always determined to make sure.

"Don't leave…" She said to him.

Damon gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm not. Your mother would throw a fit. I don't need more of a headache than I already have."

He went to the sink and rinsed a dishtowel under cold water. When he finished, he walked back over with the wet towel and new bandages for him to wrap around her swollen ankle. As he wrapped her ankle up in the new bandages, he noticed the little girl's face took on a dejected expression. Genuinely concerned, he tentatively spoke. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I wanna watch a movie."

Figuring she would tell him on her time, he stood up and walked over to the basket of dvds it held. One side it held, obviously, the more adult rated movies for Caroline. When meaning adult-rated, we're talking about PG-13 to rated R. Not the adult movies you find in…you know what. Got to admit, she's got a pretty big stack of _The Big Bang Theory._ On the other side, he figured out it was Clara's pile. There was a lot of Disney, Looney Tunes, and some other cartoons he had a sense of awareness to.

"What's with the old cartoons?" He asked curiously.

"Mama doesn't like the new shows on the TV. Says they're unworthy to be called cartoons. She always gets mad when she talks about that. She only wants me to be around the good stuff." Clara explained to him. Damon would have to go with Caroline's thinking for now on this. Despite Caroline being who she was; she seemed to know what she was doing.

He popped the first disc into the player, and he went back to sit in the recliner. He looked back onto his phone for the time.

12:15 pm

He might as well make themselves lunch while he was at it. While Clara kept herself occupied with Looney Tunes, Damon made a quick batch of sandwiches with ham and cheese. Can't go wrong there. He added some Pringles on the side. However, as he was about to walk out of the kitchen, Rowdy set himself in front of Damon front and center with his tail wagging.

Have you ever had that moment when your dog looks at you almost as if he was saying, "Give the dog your food?" Damon gave in a little annoyed by the fact he was beaten by a battle of wits to a mutt. He handed one of the Pringles chips off his plate and fed it to the dog. "This isn't going to happen often, got it?"

Rowdy just tilted his head to the side looking at him with his amber eyes. Whatever. The brown and black dog went into his corner to chew on his bone.

He put a plate in front of her, and sat it in Clara's lap. "I thought you might be hungry so here."

"Thanks." She said quietly. It wasn't long after that he knew something was wrong. He waited until both of them were done with eating until he sat on the couch right Clara giving her room to be comfortable.

"Talk to me," he cut the chase.

"What?" Clara asked confused.

Damon tried to use the gentle approach. This was no time to use any smartass comments. He would reserve those for Caroline when she got back. "I know something's bothering you. You've been like that for a while. So, tell me. What's on your mind?"

That was when Clara's impassive face faltered. Her gray-blue eyes exhibited sadness in them, and that's when he knew something was definitely wrong. "I'm just a headache to you, am I?"

What? Did he really say that?

"What got you that notion in your head?"

"What you said earlier." Oh…now he knew.

"What I said earlier was just a joke. If I hurt your feelings, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to do that to you. Honestly, I didn't." He tried to help her out. Clara smiled a bit.

"It's okay."

Figuring that he needed to up the ante, he decided to show more affection. "Scoot up real quick."

Clara did what she was told, and then it turned out for Damon sat on the couch beside her with his leg crossed over the other. He gave a pillow to Clara to use as her advantage for her to see the movie comfortably. She didn't say a word, but the happy sigh that came from her breath was enough for Damon to know. Thankfully, the couch also had a reclining feature in it so he could lie back if he wanted to. What the hell? Let's go for it.

He reclined back into the couch, and Clara laid beside him across using his leg as a sort of pillow for her head. He let the sounds from the television drown him out as he fell asleep.

**{Wide Awake}**

"Kat, you have officially lost your mind." I said Katherine on the phone.

"_Honey, I lost my mind a long time ago. Trust me. You don't hear me crying over it." _Sometimes I wonder if she really was mentally crazy at some point in her life.

"Okay. You have officially lost your mind again."

"_You're only saying that because you want to deny the truth," _Katherine insisted again. How long have we've talking about this? I don't know. Neither did I care to know either. I don't need this. This was the last thing I wanted.

"Do I even want to ask?" I should have seen this coming a long time ago.

"_And do I have to repeat myself again? Yes! You are attracted to him and you can't deny it. He's your type. And let me say, you always attracted a certain type which is kind of hard to come by." _ She explained to me. Oh, really…

"Care to explain that to me?"

"_Why certainly! I'm glad you said so! You see from what you have told me, you always had a knack of taking broken things and putting them back together. I've seen some of the stuff in your house you fixed up on all your own. Heck! You redid some of the house on your own, with my help of course." _

"Get to the point!" Sheesh, once she starts talking sometimes she never stops. Which was not often, thank God.

"_Impatient as ever. Anyway, that completely fixer-upper vibe also goes along into your attraction to the opposite sex. For example, that time you met Klaus." _

Did she really have to mention him? I still remembered that day as if it was yesterday.

_Flashback…_

_Summer was finally here! After two years of college, I can finally catch a break. I finally get to do what we planned all through the spring semester. A vacation to Virginia Beach! _

_My two friends and me got all our stuff and drove to what could be the best summer of our lives. Only have one life, so I might as well live it. _

_Alexia "Lexi" Branson was the sole planner of our little vacation. She took on the persona of All American Girl. Long and wavy dark blonde hair that went down her back, and she had chocolate brown eyes to boot. Very athletic and tall she did track, softball, and basketball all through high school with ease. She majored in Sports Medicine. Not afraid to do anything, she always took on any challenge before her. But, she had the most giving heart out of anyone I knew. She was a natural party-planner. _

_Then there was Abby Smith. Half Chinese and half white, she had a simple, yet exotic beauty appearance about her. She was the shortest of our group standing in at 5'4. Her petite figure also made her the smallest in our group as well. She was much quieter than Lexi and me. She also had a much calmer nature compared to us. She was often the mediator of the group. She was kind of naïve at times too, but we loved her for it. Lexi, much to Abby's dismay, dragged her along into the vacation scheme. Abby was going to major in Culinary Arts because she has her own dream of working with the best chefs in the country. _

_The two of us goofed off a lot on the way to Virginia Beach. It was two hours of nothing, but laughing and cutting up beyond belief. We wouldn't have gone on this trip if it weren't for Lexi. _

_Lexi had an uncle who was a manager of a hotel. For her birthday, he let her stay at his hotel that was right by Virginia Beach free of charge with her friends included. Yay for us! _

_Lexi was definitely taking advantage of the whole summer of having rooms to ourselves. We still felt like energizer bunnies, and we wanted to hit the town to see what they had. I had put my stuff onto the bed, and was ready to sleep a load off until Lexi barged into my room. "Come on, Caroline!"_

"_Just let me sleep," I groaned. _

"_Funny, that's the same thing that Abby said." _

"_And she's right," Lexi kept dragging me out of the bed with my feet as I complained. _

"_Well, I had to drag her ass out of there too. Come on, Care. Let's just see what they have. I promise you, we'll be on our way when you want to leave." Yeah, right. Promise to leave, my ass. _

"_Will you promise me you'll stop bothering me the rest of the night?" _

"_Yes! Now, hurry up. You have an hour and a half to get ready. Ciao!" _

_Thank you, Lexi. I'm glad I got that memo. I might as well get into it. I picked out my golden silk kimono sleeves top, jeggings, my black heels, my silver bracelet, earrings, and my black clutch. I decided to straighten my hair out, and put on some makeup. Hmm, not too bad. _

_Knock, knock. "Caroline, get your ass out here now!" _

_Lexi has to stop saying that before I catch the bad habit. _

_I walked out of the hotel room, and into the hallway to see Lexi and Abby outside of my door. Lexi had nice tanned skinned that she loved to show off which I envied with a passion. She wore a sleeveless black column sheath short mini halter-top that showed enough attention to her skin. She finished it off with dark wash blue jeans with black boots. My jaw dropped almost to the floor when I saw Abby._

"_What did you do to Abby?!" I cried out. _

"_Chillax. I just dolled her up a little. That's all." Lexi tried to calm me down. _

_I scoffed, "You call that 'a little'?" _

_Abby's face turned red tomato with all the blushing. The whole color scheme of her outfit was purple and black. Her nails were painted a dark purple. Her makeup was smoky and dark bringing out her brown eyes. She had silver chunky bracelets on one of her arms and a matching colored ball chain necklace. Her shoes were high black peep toe heels. She had a cute black top, but what I couldn't fathom was the sequined pants she had on like she was wearing a disco ball. _

"_Doesn't she look hot?" Lexi asked. _

"_I look like a whore," Abby complained glancing down at her feet. _

"_No," I said trying to encourage her, "it's more like a rocker chick look. Very good on you." Hopefully, that helped out. _

"_I just don't see how you convinced her to wear high heels." Considering Abby was one of the most conservative people when it came to clothes. She hated heels with a passion too. _

"_Trust me; this is going to work out perfectly." _

_I hope so…_

**A few minutes later…**

_We came up to a nightclub called Insomnia. Ironic. I know I'm not going to be able to sleep at all tonight with all the music going on. That was bad. _

_I'm a sucker for anything that has a good beat. _

"_Want to get some drinks?" Lexi asked me. _

"_You know I'm not legal enough to drink yet." _

"_Your loss," She said before she took a jello shot. I turned my head over to the dance floor. The music screamed from the speakers making it almost impossible to hear. That was when I decided instead of feeling bored, I went out to the dance floor ready to shake my ass off. Oh, no! Now, I'm starting to think like Lexi. _

_**It's getting late  
**__**I'm making my way over to  
**__**My favorite place  
I gotta get my body moving  
Shake the stress away  
**__**I wasn't looking for nobody when you looked my way  
Possible candidate, yeah**_

_Rihanna, not bad. As I danced to the song, I felt someone tapping my shoulder. I turned around seeing a man standing behind me. I couldn't make out his features all too well due to all the flashing lights around. But, if I could some it up in one word it would be…_

_Sexy…_

"_Would you like dance?" He asked me. Wait, a second? He's not American. If he's not, then where is he from? I don't know, but he has one sexy accent. _

"_Sure…," I purred putting on my seductive face, "if you can keep up." _

"_Let's see, love…" he replied. Soon I felt lean arms snake themselves around my waist, and I felt his chest against my back as we danced to the beat. Oh, my God. What am I doing? _

_All I kept thinking to myself was don't make it stop. Don't make this stop._

_**I wanna take you away  
Let's escape into the music, DJ let it play  
I just can't refuse it  
Like the way you do this  
Keep on rockin' to it  
Please don't stop the, please don't stop the music  
I wanna take you away  
Let's escape into the music, DJ let it play  
I just can't refuse it  
Like the way you do this  
Keep on rockin' to it  
Please don't stop the, please don't stop the,  
Please don't stop the music**_

_End of flashback…_

"_Then later on, you introduced yourselves to each other and-" _I had enough of this. I hated myself when I did this, but I couldn't help it. I already knew what happened. I don't need to relive a repeat of this.

"I know! I know! I was there! Can we just stop talking about it? I remember!"

"_Can we please just let me finish my point?" _Katherine asked as if she never heard me snap in the first place. Damn, she's too good at this.

I sighed heavily. Note to self: make sure to write in diary how I wonder why I am friends with Katherine Pierce in the first place. Wonder very hard, because she's not going away from your life any time soon.


	8. Fixer Uppers

**A/n: Hi! It's Fireworks again! I got a brand new update for all of you! Oh, my God! I'm almost up to fifty reviews now! I love all the support! Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. For some of you, you liked the Damon/Clara bonding moment. Then for some of you, you liked the flashback of how Caroline met Klaus. Well, that was part one of the flashback. Ha! I'm getting you now! But, there's more to it than you think. I love the support I'm getting from all of you! Please keep it up! **

**Personally, I'm looking forward to the Klaroline scenes in the next episode of VD. That's the only reason I'm watching it now. And I haven't watched the other seasons. I only watched the fourth season. I saw a lot of the clips of the earlier seasons on YouTube. Then I read the wikia in my spare time. **

**Chapter Main Theme: England by The National**

**I would like to thank those who reviewed, favorited, or alerted to Wide Awake: DarolineWritingGoddess, Guest, xWrittenInTheStarsx, thisheartbeatsforyou, xostelenax, CaraSalvatore, VampCaroline, yuna, linalove, DamonLover86, and DarolineKlaroline. **

**Here's a heads-up! This chapter is mostly filler and a precursor to the next chapter. The next chapter is a Christmas chapter. Daroline + Christmas = HAPPY! **

**It's also a huge honor to have linalove to review this story! If any of you love Johnny Depp or his movies, she's the right author for you. She has written so many great stories with Johnny Depp's movie in some fandoms. I totally recommend you give her a try! She's one of the best writers on the website.**

**I'm also welcome to the idea if someone wants to make a fan trailer or a banner with this story. I am open to the idea. Just letting all of you know. On with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries! **

Chapter 8: Fixer Uppers

"_I know you remembered what happened next. Don't make me torture you to get it out, Caroline Beulah!"_ Katherine pointed out to me. Just what I needed, someone to use my wretched middle name to manipulate me.

"How many times have I told you never to use my middle name? Of course, I remember. Sometimes, I can't stop remembering…even though I tried." Even for a person like me, I won't ever forget a man like Klaus. I couldn't to be honest. Trust me; I have tried so many times. Nevertheless, seeing Clara every day brings Klaus more out into the light. I could not deny whose genetics she inherited.

_Flashback…_

_Music kept blaring out of the speakers making it almost impossible to speak. The lights' flashing crazily was making me almost blind in my eyesight. However, I was still having one of the best times of my life. _

_Especially, with Sexy Foreign Accent behind me dancing with me to the heavy beat. _

_Oh, it's getting hot up in here! _

_After a while, I was getting tired of all loud and crazy in this place. I wanted a calmer atmosphere. "Do you want to go outside? I can't hear you in here!" _

"_Sure! I was just thinking the same thing." Before we left, I went to the bar to let Lexi know I was going somewhere else that night. Thankfully, the woman had a very high tolerance level when it came to alcohol. I knew I was all right because she was too busy making out with her boyfriend, Lee. I chuckled to myself. It won't be long now. _

"_Lexi!" I yelled. _

"_What?" She asked a bit annoyed, but her annoyance vanished when she saw the man walking up behind me. "Who's the new eye candy you got there?" _

"_To be honest, I do not know." I answered her. Then she had a wicked grin on her face that would put poor Cheshire Cat to shame. _

"_I'm so proud of you! Go get 'em, Care!" Great, now she was implying that I was horny. That was nice to know. _

"_Where's Abby?" I asked her. _

"_I don't know. She was right here a few minutes ago," Lexi replied. It was then we heard an unfamiliar, loud laughing coming from a little ways down the bar. There came Abby walking down on the bar itself, with a dark reddish-purple drink in a wine glass in her hand just giggling merrily. I couldn't believe I had to say this. I saw it with my own eyes. Abby was drunk. _

_Drunk on her ass. _

_Dammit, Lexi! I have to stop cussing! _

_I still couldn't get over the drink she had. What was it? "Abby…" _

"_HEY, SEXY GIRLFRIEND!" She yelled before taking a sip of her drink out of her wine glass. Oh, my God. What has Lexi done to you? _

_I turned back to Foreign Sexy Accent again, and told him, "Can you wait a second?"_

"_Sure. This is entertaining anyway." _

_Just what I needed. I was only making it worse. Speaking of making things worse, I Abby kept dancing all over the bar with her drink in her hands singing to Buttons by The Pussycat Dolls. Oh, no…_

_It's too funny! _

"_Abby, what drink is that?" I asked her as loud as I could. _

"_OH, THIS! SOMEONE MADE THIS CONCOCTION CALLED BLOODBATH! DO YOU WANT THE RECIPE? I HAVE IT IN MY POCKET!" _

_I'm so leaving now. "Lexi, I'm going to go ahead and go. I'll meet y'll at the hotel soon." _

"_Okay! Go get 'em, you crazy bitch!" Why am I friends with her I will never know? _

_I walked outside to see the man I had danced with before leaning up against the wall with one leg propped up and his arms crossed over his chest in a "cool guy" pose. That was when I fully took in his appearance. Oh, man that man was a H.O.T .T.I.E. _

"_I assume you got everything in order," Klaus said to me with a smirk. _

_I responded nervously as I rubbed the back of my neck, "Sorta. I'm sure they'll be fine without me."_

"_Where shall we go to then?" He offered his arm out to me. A man with manners, especially a European let alone a Brit for that matter was wherein of itself. I always had a secret preference towards accents. It always gave off an exotic flavor to – who am I kidding? I'm crazy! There's no way…_

"_How about the boardwalk? I'm sure that'll be okay," I suggested slowly taking onto his arm. _

"_Let me escort you out. It's terribly crowded." _

_I smiled at manners. "I'll be glad to. By the way, isn't it a custom for the woman to have the gentleman's name before she does anything with said gentleman?" _

"_How do you know if I am a gentleman?" _

"_I know you are one somewhat. My instincts tell me that you are a man who likes to make an entrance." Little did I know that I got him down perfectly. He gave a half-smile. _

"_You're very intuitive, I take it?" He asked me. _

"_Not really. I'm just going with my instincts." _

"_You ought to give yourself more credit, love. You deserve it more." Oh! He has some manners, and he was charming. Wow. _

"_Okay, _love. _Now, give me your name. I need to call you something." _

"_Just call me, Klaus." He said to me offering his arm again. I knew I was taking a chance, but what did I have to lose? I took his arm. _

"_Caroline."_

_End of flashback…_

"_Like I said, you're attracted to Damon. You're totally into the fixer upper vibe. In addition, Damon, he wreaks it from a mile away. And I bet fifty bucks that he's the same way with you," _Katherine said to me. All right, it's official. She has to be taking crazy pills or something. There's no way. No freaking way!

"How would you know?" I couldn't help, but be skeptical of the situation.

_"Because I just know things like this. **Trust** me. It will work out,"_ Kat urged me.

"I better get off. I'll see you later," I said to her trying to get off the phone.

_"Think about what I said, but I have to ask you one more thing,"_ Katherine said.

"What?"

_"Did you ever get that Bloodbath drink recipe? I'd love to try it."_

"Bye, Kat."

_"Think about what I said!"_ She ordered me through the phone before ending the call. The bad thing was that I still had the recipe for that stupid drink. I wasn't going to say that to Katherine though.

I sat there in my chair in the coffee shop contemplating the situation. As much as I hated to admit it, Katherine Pierce was right. I really can't say that aloud. She wouldn't let me live it down. My thoughts drifted towards Damon. What am I thinking? Should I even try this? Would he even accept it? All of these questions kept buzzing around in my head almost never stopping giving me a slight headache.

I really need an aspirin now.

Deciding not to delay any further, I got out of the coffee shop and headed out into town to finish my last-minute errands. Nothing much was on the radio except for all the Christmas music playing with the holiday just a few weeks away. As Katherine pointed out before, I was the Retail Therapy Queen. I loved shopping. I wasn't afraid to admit it. I just hated going to Wal-Mart.

I had the gifts already bought and wrapped up ready to go. Then there was the fact, my list of getting gifts for people were small. It was only Clara and me. Then you have Katherine too. I never really celebrated Christmas with my mother. We never got along well. Avoiding unnecessary contact, I already sent her the gift I bought her. My father was never really into Christmas anyway. I never really kept in contact with him much either. It's too long of a story.

As I drove my way home, I couldn't help, but think about the new company I picked up on my doorstep. Damon…wow. He was truly something. I guess I just have to peel back the layers taking my time. Deep down, I had a good suspicion that there was something broken inside of him. He may be aware of it in some sense despite his present condition. He's hurt from something deep inside of his heart.

That's the thing about hearts, right? They have the tendency to be able to be fixed.

I've watched too many romantic comedies.

I've got my work cut out for me.

It was getting dark out, and I knew I had to be getting home soon. What sucked was that I haven't set up the tree yet and some of the decorations were still in the attic. Maybe…

I pulled up into the driveway with Rowdy barking at me greeting in his own way that was just Rowdy. I loved that dog. As I got out of the vehicle, Rowdy came up to me jumping up and down excitedly. "Woof! Woof! Woof!"

"Hey, boy. You've kept a good eye on the place for me? I hope you did because I bought you a Christmas present to be put under the tree. Well, I need to get the tree first before I put it under the tree. Come on, let's go inside. It's freezing." I gathered my things, the groceries, and headed inside. Once I got inside, I was a little confused by the usual silence in the house. I looked around until my eyes settled on the sight that tugged on my heartstrings. There on the couch was my house guest and my little girl. He was reclined in the sofa with his feet propped up and his head leaning back. Clare had her head resting on her pillow that was against his leg with her blanket keeping her body warm. Then I saw it. I saw my little girl holding Damon's hand while they were sleeping.

It took a lot out of my self-control not to squeal like a little girl. It was adorable! I didn't have the heart to wake them up. I'll them enjoy the peace and quiet for now. I put my purse and groceries on the kitchen counter when my phone rang playing _Viva la Vida_ by _Coldplay_. I knew that ringtone anywhere, and he never really called me on my cell phone. It's somewhat ridiculous of the fact because I used Coldplay as his ringtone just because they were from England. I really have to check my brain sometimes. "Hello?"

"_Hello back to you, love," _Klaus's voice resonated through the phone. That accent! It still had an effect on me. It's almost as if he was purring to me like a cat the way he spoke. Moreover, that was how he normally spoke in public. Always a certain quality distinguished him from all the voices I've heard from in my life made me remember him in a heartbeat. Klaus had a certain charismatic lilt to his voice when you talk to him, who was different from Damon's – wait a second. When did Damon even figure in this? Why am I even comparing the two together?

"Nice to hear from you. Why did you call?" I asked him walking to my bedroom so I wouldn't disturb the two sleepyheads camped out on my couch.

"_You have been rather preoccupied at the moment so I decided to go to the source. We need to talk about an important subject at hand." _

"Then what is it then?" Concern made its way into my voice as I dreaded what the call was supposed to be for.

"_When I am going to see Clara? I want to see her for Christmas. I don't get to see my little love enough_," he said to me. Oh, I've been dreading this. There was a reason why I wanted Clara in my care. It's not Klaus wouldn't provide for her because he always loved his daughter. It was the fact I wanted Clara to have a normal life as much as I could give her. I didn't want her to be spoiled with the prestigious life. I wanted her life as simple as possible.

"_Nik_," I asked using the rare nickname I had for him that I never used often. "I don't know."

"_What's the problem?" _

"Well," how was I supposed to tell him this? Seriously?

"_Caroline?" _

"Okay! Okay! Hold your horses! I'm in a bit of a situation." Well, I came out with it.

"_And that situation is?" _

"If I bring her up there for the holidays, I'm going to have to bring someone else with me."

"_What do you mean?" _

"What is this? Twenty questions? He's just a friend. He doesn't have any family to go to for Christmas so I'm letting him stay with me. I can't leave him alone if me and Clara are there to stay in England for long. Maybe you can include one more this year."

There was a slight pause on the phone. Oh, please. Come up with something. _"I'll pull some strings around and see what I can find. I hope it better be worth it." _

"Thanks, Klaus. I appreciate it."

"_You're welcome. I'll see you later, Caroline."_ The line ended. Oh, what have I done?

"Am I interrupting something?"

"EEEEPPP!" I yelped as I was nearly jumped out of my skin with my iPhone falling out of my hands. "Shoot, Damon. What are you trying to do? Kill me?"

"It wasn't a success so I'm going to have to try again some other time," he replied to my question with his signature smirk. I picked up phone off the floor as I glanced back up at him. Good Lord, he'd smirk worse than that if he ever found out some things about me. I don't have any skeletons in my closet, but I have a few embarrassing things I don't need him to see.

"Let's take this back to the kitchen," I told him leading the way. He was still dressed in his night-clothes he wore this morning. In any clothes, he was hot as – what am I saying?

When we headed back into the kitchen, I grabbed a box of Lean Pockets from the freezer. I didn't feel like cooking tonight, but neither did I want to go through take out. "Don't complain about this. They're essentially the same thing as Hot Pockets except they're healthier."

"I didn't say anything," Damon commented.

"I know. I just read your mind. I'm physic," my voice dipped in heavy sarcasm waiting for his reaction. Damon's face changed from his signature smartass smirk to extremely puzzled. I couldn't stop the laughter rising up through my chest escaping my mouth. "I'm just kidding. I only said the stuff about the Lean Pockets for future reference. So which flavor do you want? I only have two flavors now until I stack the groceries from the car. "

"I already put everything up for you."

I was silent for a moment. He helped with my…wow. I know it shouldn't be that shocking to me, but what was I supposed to think? I knew the guy in just a matter of weeks. Anyway, not to show my surprised reaction I went on like nothing happened.

"You didn't have to do that. So what do you want? Here's two choices. Four cheese pizza in a seasoned herb crust or chicken fiesta?"

"I'll take the pizza."

I took out the lean pocket out of the box while I got out mine as I prepared dinner. As I was about to reheat Damon's pocket, he touched my elbow with his hand. What is happening to me?

"I'll handle my food. You handle yours," he said roughly. I didn't take it to offense though. I knew his type. Men were not very different. They all have to act all tough and not huge softies. Katherine was right. He reeked of it.

I let him do his own thing while I prepared my dinner. After he finished with the microwave, I used to warming up my supper. I was in a Mexican mood so I picked the chicken fiesta. All of that Mexican-y goodness just sitting there warm and ready to eat. I was so ready for this.

He and I sat at the dining table eating our own diners letting silence wave over the place. I didn't know how I was going to bring this up as a topic of conversation. Well, I might as well work my way into it. Unusually, Damon started to the conversation saving me the trouble. "I'm surprised you let her sleep while we're eating."

I looked back to Clara who was curled up under her blanket comfortable as best she could. "She needed her rest. She stills needs it for the rest of this week. I'm just letting her sleep a little longer. I honestly don't have the heart to wake her up."

"I guess anyone seeing her like that wouldn't want to." Damon commented while glancing at my daughter. I could see the hint of a small smile tugging the corners of his lips. It was a rare thing to see him without his smirk. I can't begin to tell you.

"Damon," I started, "Christmas is coming up soon. I know the situation you're in has you in a bit of a snag. I don't what to do with your memory, but I can offer you the best thing for now. You can stay here for the holidays."

"What are you planning now, Blondie?" I swear, someone is going to get hurt if he kept on with that name for me. However, somehow, I kept in my temper and my usual personality of being compassionate started to make its showing through me. Surprisingly, I like to have that noted.

"Damon, please for once just be quiet. Cut off the smartass act because it's not going to help you out this time. Trust me, it takes one to know one," I said firmly to him making him effortlessly making him be quiet. "Like I said, Christmas is coming. I don't know how you feel about that, but I promise you this. You are not going to be alone. All three of us are going to be spending Christmas together as best we can."

I didn't know how Damon got into the situation he was in. I knew the indifferent, smartass act well enough. Everyone had their own mask to use to their ability. It was a mask he wore that worked best with him. I knew mine well too. I still had my suspicions of fallout with his family had something to do with this. Maybe a bit of reckless decisions thrown into the mix. I couldn't deny Damon was reckless in a sense. That recklessness landed him on my doorstep; that just proved it right there.

"So, I'm going to go ahead and let you think about it. I'll let you know more about the situation soon enough. I'm going to wake Clara up now."

Damon and I didn't talk to each other the rest of the night. I went about my business and he went about on his. I took care of my daughter and had gotten her into bed at a relatively good time thankfully. Damon settled for sleeping in the recliner, though I did warn him what it might do to his back. It was his problem. Not mine.

I changed my clothes into something more comfortable. I had my lamp on my nightstand on with my diary in its place on my nightstand. Rowdy was clean from the bath I gave him earlier so I didn't have to worry about him coming into room and jump into the bed getting it smelly. Most of the time though, he kept his eyes trained on Damon on wherever he was. I took out my pen as usual ready for another entry in my diary.

_Dear Diary,_

_It's been a while since I wrote a decent entry. I'm hoping I can write one decent. Many things have kept me busy. I still have so much to do. OMG! _

_In good news though, the holidays are coming up. In bad news, I haven't told Damon about him probably having to come with me to England to see Clara's family. I'm still in shock with Klaus being engaged. I wonder what her name is. I'm gonna have to remind myself to ask Klaus about her. Not just any woman is going to be around my daughter as long as I'm around. _

_I probably won't admit this out loud, but I can't help, but feel sorry for Damon. To be alone on Christmas is just tragic to me. I've seen a lot of things in my life, but that's just wrong. I made a promise to him. I'm going to keep it. But, I don't like myself being so giving sometimes. My big mouth and I probably need of a completely new quiet upgrade. _

_Klara will probably be ecstatic about having two Christmases this year. I haven't told her yet. I'm not really sure if that is good news or bad news. _

_All I know is that, I'm going to have to take my time with this on-going project with Damon. Most of it relies on him alone. I'm just rambling on now in writing. I reached all new level of crazy now. I'll write to you later. _

_Truly, _

_Caroline Forbes_


	9. A Daroline Christmas Part One

**A/n: I love all the support I am getting with this story! SIXTY-ONE REVIEWS?! OVER 3000 HITS! Oh, my gosh. Please keep up the good work! This story wouldn't have been great as it is now without all of you out there reading and reviewing. This is important to me because this story shows how much I improved over the last couple of years. Moreover, this story is a personal one to me as I do relate to the story somewhat so some of my feelings are going to be poured into this. **

**A shout out to DarolineWritingGoddess for all the help she's been giving me and the time taken from hers to talk to me through all of my questions. She's wonderful!**

**Another shout out to linalove for her time as well and for making the beautiful banners for this story. She does a magnificent job writing and making banners too. You have to read her stories if you love Johnny Depp! She's an awesome writer. **

**I want to make this more enjoyable so this is what's going to happen. Instead of just one part for the Daroline Christmas chapter, I decided to make it into two. The last part is probably going to have surprises in that one. That's up to you to guess what it is. I'm just thinking this will be more enjoyable. **

**Chapter Main Theme: It's Christmas so if you have any holiday songs on your computer, I suggest you play them while you're reading this. **

**I would like to thank those who reviewed, favorite, and alerted: DarolineWritingGoddess, linalove, XDarkParadiseX, Guest, xWrittenInTheStarsx, DelenaWarrior, starzee, and omnomchocolate . **

Chapter 9: A Daroline Christmas Part One

It was the twenty-third day of December. With Christmas only two days away, one person can understand with my brain driving going overload. There was too much going on for me to sort.

Here's a piece of advice. Never let a man you only knew for a matter of weeks try to go inside of your attic trying to get your Christmas tree. Do you want to know why? I'm just going to explain to you, anyway. Men at no matter what age, they always acted as if they were always indestructible and they always got prideful.

Damon was a prime example of any full-blooded American male I've seen. He wasn't any different. Maybe I think he was more of a smartass than most or something else on my ever-growing list. A little hotter than most men I've seen. Maybe even hotter than K – don't even go there. He has a fiancée, and the other one probably has someone else waiting for him back where he used to live.

Then that thought brought up another question. Where was he from? He may not be from the state of Virginia for all I knew. I could be holding him back from his family. I didn't want that kind of guilt on my shoulder. Then again, his family could be the cause of him coming to my doorstep.

I'm not going to deny that Damon was a strong person. He still was, but even a man has weak points. There was only so much a man can take, you know. I haven't been telling anyone this, but I have to be honest. It was no use of sugar coding it.

I guess it's been happening since after he stayed here for a little while. For some time, I've been awoken at night by noises downstairs just like the first night I found him. I tried to ignore them at first. I found out later on it was coming from Damon. Thank God, that Clara always slept like a rock. She inherited that from me, but being on call while working on the hospital changes you. I turned into a light sleeper over time. It's hard to break old routine habits that were drilled into you for so long. Nevertheless, I knew that Damon was suffering, and it didn't take me long before I diagnosed what he had suffered from: night terrors.

Being in the medical field, you learn to cram all of these you'd never thought to imagine of. Especially, when it came down to disorders and diseases that's out there. Remembering all I had to learn, I'm still surprise my head didn't explode from all the knowledge. Night terrors between teenagers and adults are similar, the etiology, prognosis and treatment are qualitatively different. People, who often experience night terrors can get them from not eating a proper diet, not getting the proper amount or quality of sleep (also can result in sleep apnea), enduring stressful events in their life, and if they stay untreated, they will only get worse.

That was why I'd been drinking so much coffee in the mornings. Damon had kept me up at night making me more tired, but I wasn't complaining. I couldn't blindly ignore the man agonized with his own personal demons. The best thing I could do was just to be there for him as he had been sick. Comfort him as best I could. Those nights were long and sometimes agonizingly slow. He thrashed about in his sleep often screaming out in pain. His skin often sweated bullets with his heartbeat pounding and accelerating with speed. What broke my heart the most was the crying. The strong smartass of a man who I had gotten used to as company (still getting used to), had been reduced to a broken man. It was almost as if instead of man, it was just a lonely sad little boy sobbing for any ease to his pain.

It was then I knew I couldn't abandon him. I didn't want to. I knew it wasn't going to be easy for any of us. Oh, I knew I was probably signing my death-sentence taking on such a huge task, but if it meant healing whatever wounds he had been inflicted with I'm willing to deal with the situation.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Damon trying to get my Christmas tree. "What's taking you so long?"

"Have you seen how hard it is to get a tree this big downstairs?" Damon yelled from the attic. I stood at the bottom of the ladder waiting for him to help him bring out the box. He, being the muscle, was left to the task of getting and maneuvering the box while I, the brains of the operation, manage the operation.

In other words, I'm the boss and I tell him what to do.

"It's only seven feet tall. You have a flashlight. Use it!"

"What do I have to do? Hold the damn flashlight in my mouth?"

"Hey! Watch your language! There's a kid in the house!" I reprimanded him.

"She's not going to hear it!"

"Just shut up, and bring it down here before I manhandle you," I said irritated with him. Hearing the shuffling and moving about in the attic, I finally saw the white and red box, which held my Christmas tree, was ready to come down. It's about time he got it already.

"You got it ready to go?" I guess you can say I was ready for any flop Damon was going to make, and I was ready to laugh at him.

"Yes, your highness," he said making a small mocking bow from what I could make out to see. The attic's lighting wasn't the best, unfortunately, but I knew he did that to aggravate me.

"Push it down and let's get a move on," I ordered him. With some maneuvering (and a lot of luck), we managed to get the box down in one piece. I was stronger than most people thought so I was able to drag the box into the living ready to be open. He and I had already gotten the decorations down before the tree anyway. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, Blondie. Just making sure, I didn't leave anything. I'm going down now," Damon said as he finished. I watched him as he came down the ladder making sure he didn't hurt himself. But, that was when I eternally cursed my two left feet. One of Clara's toys was left on the floor for me to trip over.

What do you think happened next? You can derive a conclusion.

I tripped causing myself to grab Damon not only making him let go of the ladder, and but the next thing I knew, he's on top of me.

…oh…crap…

Do you remember the phrase that you could cut the tension with a knife?

Yeah, folks. The fools who botched that up were right after all.

Crap…

Damon's full weight on top of mine didn't help. What's worse was that his face was mere inches away from mine. I could feel the heat of hot breath on my skin. Our eyes locked with each other frozen in place. There was too much shock going through my system. I couldn't shake off the confusion in my face. Damon's face mirrored mine too in confusion. Only one thing came to my mind.

…wow, isn't this awkward?

"Mama? Damon? What are you doing?" Clara's voice sounded to us in the hallway. Damon and I turned our heads to see my little girl standing in the hallway in her pajamas, which consisted of her red and white striped comfortable pants that reminded me of candy canes. Her long-sleeved shirt was white with ruffled on the end of the shirt. The collar of the shirt was outlined in red. In the middle of the shirt in big letters was 'Staying Up For Santa!' Her hair was wild and wavy from her head being on the pillow watching the Christmas specials on TV.

I was too utterly embarrassed on what was going on that I didn't even get onto my daughter for her leaving her toys in the middle of the hall. That was one of my pet peeves. I couldn't stand stuff just lying around. It drove me nuts.

"Mama, is this what you meant by 'an invite you would be happy to oblige?'" she asked without missing a beat with her curious grayish-blue eyes.

Damon beat me to the punch. "Clara, it was just a little accident. Go ahead back to the living room, and we'll be there in a few minutes."

"All right," Clara walked away huffily mumbling under her breath. I had to give it to her that she had spunk. She didn't like to be out of the loop. The curiosity was a mystery too. I still hadn't figured out if she inherited that gene from Klaus or me.

Nope, I still don't know.

I turned back to Damon who was still above me regaining my personality back in motion. "Can you get off of me…please?" I asked in a surprising calm tenor. He just nodded to me, and went back to the living room.

I went into the bathroom, and looked at myself in the mirror. I could definitely use some sunlight. We've been caught up with Christmas galore that I forgot to take care of myself. Therefore, without further ado, I scrambled into my bedroom and picked out my winter outfit going outside. I sported the knitted cap on my head letting my hair tumble down in waves. I still had on my sweater and jeans, but I tossed my jacket over it with my black winter boots. I grabbed my gloves on, and was ready to go outside.

I walked out towards the living room seeing Damon setting up the tree with surprisingly good success. That tree was sometimes harder than usual to put together. Clara watched him with a healthy curiosity in her eyes with a smiled present on her face. I smiled. "Clara, go ahead to your bedroom and pick out some clothes. We're going outside."

Her eyes lit up like Christmas. "Really? Are we really, Mama?"

"Really, really," I told her.

"YAY! SNOW DAY!"

That's Clara for you. I was always more of an autumn person. Winter wasn't my favorite season, but I dealt with it most of the time without complaint. But, Clara? She loved the winter. Christmas was her favorite holiday. Ever since I brought her out to her first snow day when she was younger, she went bonkers over the snow. That was the best part to her: the snow. The white powdery fascination she couldn't stop remembering as a child. Therefore, every year Clara and I would go to play outside in our own little Winter Wonderland with Rowdy as company in the front yard. He loved rolled around the snow, playing, and chasing us around.

I wasn't worried about the snow too much. Yes, it snowed in Virginia, but it generally melted in between snowfalls. It was rare to see more than ten inches on the ground. The western part of Virginia gets a lot of snow (mountain areas) and the central part gets usually more than twelve inches on average. The coastal part of Virginia usually got less than six inches at least.

Damon, however, looked like someone kicked his beach castle down just for the sport.

"You don't have to come outside, Damon. It's just something Clara and me do every year. We usually go to the park, but I thought it would have been better to be here. You're welcome to come and join us if you want." I left him standing there in the living room as I headed upstairs toward my daughter's room. Surprisingly, she had already gotten dressed and was ready to go.

Klaus, are you some super genius or something?

It was when I looked at her again I realized she was every bit as me as much as she was to Klaus. Instead of being diligently ready, Clara had rushed through with again as always. When she gets excited over anything whether it was snow or just getting chocolate, she'll rush as fast as she could without thinking it through. But, she's a child? Can't expect perfection.

"Aren't you in a hurry?" I asked chuckling looking at the impatient look on my daughter's face.

"I wanna see the snow!" She explained wanting to go.

"Calm down, baby. Let me fix you up. You look too jumbled," I said as I straightened out her jacket and clothes, "There, good as new."

"Can I go now?" she asked me impatiently again.

"Wait for me at the door. I'll be down there in a second."

She scurried out the door in a green red blur. I looked at myself in the mirror one last time before I made my way to the front door. That was when I saw Damon all dressed in his winter clothes to keep him warm as if he was…

"I decided to go along with it. It might be fun," he said as he brought me out of my dazed look.

"Okay. Let's go before Clara throws fits."

"Mama! I don't throw fits!"

**{Wide Awake}**

Something told him in his very gut this wasn't a very good idea. You know what?

He was right.

He hated the snow. Damon could not stand the cold. He hated winter with a passion.

His thoughts were cut off when a white ball of snow hurled into his face. Who would even dare? He looked around the front yard to the people in front of him. Clara stood in front of him pointing a finger at the woman beside her. "Mama did it!"

It was then Caroline mirrored his same signature smartass smirk with her own smugness of victory on the side. So that's how she wants to play?

That was when war enfolded in Caroline Forbes' own front yard. Many numbers of snowballs were pelted at both sides of the battlefield. It was Team Caroline vs. Team Damon. Team Caroline consisted of Clara and Caroline teaming up as mother and daughter. Moreover, what did Damon have? All he had was the annoying German shepherd who just kept barking his head off causing Damon a headache.

It was on…

Like said before, the snowball fight kept on. While Damon was struggling, Caroline and Clara kept hurrying the pace. "Come on, Damon. I know you can do better than that!"

Not too long after that, Damon felt another snowball pummel him in the face. "Define better. You don't have an annoying dog as a teammate, which is humiliating beyond all means."

Almost as if Rowdy had heard him, the dog gave out a low growl and nipped his hand.

"Ow! Stupid dog!"

Caroline and Clara laughed even more almost falling to the snowy ground. He couldn't figure out who was crazier. Caroline waved her arms over her head signaling him to stop, but Clara didn't get that signal until it was too late. Another snowball went over Damon's head, and hit the Rowdy on the nose covering the dog's face with white powdery snow.

Now it was Damon's turn to laugh, "HA! Now, that's funny."

Rowdy just whined a bit in response. Clara came up to her dog to cheer him up. "It's okay, Rowdy. It's all for the fun. I'll get you some extra beacon treats tonight."

Caroline went up to Damon and helped him up off the cold ground. He felt her gloved covered hands as she grabbed his arm helping him as her body radiated her warmth and body heat. How did she manage to stay warm in this forsaken weather was beyond his understanding. "Don't go Grinch on me now. Let's get you inside so you can get warmed up again."

About time…

Damon's mood improved somewhat when he entered back into the house enjoying the warmth it radiated. He smelled the scents of Christmas all throughout the kitchen and living room. Caroline shed off her coat and winter clothes, starting to help Clara with hers. Her blue eyes turned to Damon as he took off the cold winter clothes that clung to him.

"Go ahead and do what you need to do to get yourself warm. I'll make some hot cocoa for all of us if you want some of the batch." Caroline said with a small smile.

"Thank, God." He replied as he ran up the stairs to change into. After a quick change, he came back down into the kitchen while Clara was digging her way through the Christmas decorations fascinated by all the different colors and shapes. Rowdy just decided to sleep in his spot since he was tired from all the excitement outside. Caroline had her back turned busy with making the chocolate cocoa she promised to make for the three of them.

As just he was about to make his way towards Caroline, Clara ran up to him and hugged his leg tight. "Are you really staying for Christmas? Really? Really?"

He was taken aback by the little girl's sudden display of affection. His silvery-blue eyes softened down at the girl as he gently pried her off his leg. "Let's get the Christmas tree set up. Do you want to help?"

"Sure!" she replied in excitement as she rushed into the living room. Unknowingly to Damon, Caroline watched him as he took her daughter's hand and led her into the living room. She finished making the cocoa, and poured into three distinct mugs. A black coffee mug for Damon, a special cup for Clara that way she wouldn't spill it, and Caroline's special mug. Hers was a mug she had gotten that said. "Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History." She couldn't have said it plainer than that.

Damon had set up the tree with Clara as his helper. Thankfully, it only came in three pieces so it wasn't hard to put together. "You're doing a good job," Damon complimented her as she handed him the last part of the tree to put on top of the two other bottom pieces.

Caroline strolled into the room. She brought the tray holding the three cups of cocoa with one hand with the air and grace of a pro. "Three cocoas. All fresh."

"Does mine have the extra marshmallows in it?" Clara asked.

"Just for you, baby," she said to Clara with a motherly smile as she handed her Clara's cocoa. "Here you go, Damon. It's for you."

Damon almost hesitantly, got the black mug from Caroline and set it aside as he made sure the tree was finally put together. However, as he did that, Caroline stopped him.

"You take a break. You did enough. I need to do my part now."

He gladly took her offer. "Of course, it's about time too."

Caroline rolled her eyes at his remark. "Just drink your cocoa. I'm going to decorate the tree."

"Can I help too, Mama?"

"After I get the lights on the tree done," she said to Clara. Her daughter situated herself right next to Damon as she drank her cocoa with her watching _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_. Yes, it was the Jim Carrey version too. Clara was very engrossed into the movie much oblivious to the adults in the living room.

"She loves this movie, doesn't she?" Damon asked aloud to no one in particular.

"She never got tired of it since she was two. Though the movie drives me nuts to no end," she replied from the back of the tree as she hung up the lights on the tree.

Damon chuckled to himself watching Caroline mutter to herself as she put the lights on the Christmas tree. About thirty minutes into it, many swigs of her cocoa, and several muttered curses later, she finally finished the task she had before her. "Okay. I finally got those suckers on that stupid tree. Clara, now you can get the ornaments to hang on here."

"Finally!" she ran over to her mother and sat on the floor with boxes of decorations in front of her. She had the gleam in her eyes as if she struck a jackpot in treasure. Damon had to give it to the kid. She had spirit.

The movie still kept playing, but it was almost over anyway do he didn't care to pay attention to it. The real entertain lied in the two females in front of him decorating the tree. This wasn't what he never expected to be at. Caroline didn't have to welcome him, and nurse him back to health. She could have just left him out in the cold or at least brought him to the hospital and just left him there in their care. However, she still did not.

"Mama, what's this?"

Caroline turned to her daughter who was holding a plant in her hand. Damon did a double take finally realizing what she held in her hands. Clara was holding mistletoe. Caroline laughed to herself as she too grabbed the mistletoe from her daughter's hands. "Oh, this old thing. It's mistletoe."

"What do you do with mistletoe?"

Honestly? Caroline never told her this. Okay, time to let a professional do the work.

"Let me teach you a lesson in Christmas 101," he gestured to the mistletoe, "that thing you hold in your hands is part of a very ancient Christmas tradition. See, you hang in on top of a door. And when two people meet under the mistletoe, they kiss."

Damon knew Caroline wasn't going to like this at all, but hey, she deserved it. This was revenge for kicking his ass in a snowball fight. She shot him a dirty look, but all he did was smirk. Team Damon was winning this round.

Three…two…one…

"I wanna see it," Clara stated to them. Oh, Caroline was so going to regret messing with him. Besides, he might as well get away with a little bit of fun once and a while.

"Observe," he instructed. He stood up from his spot and walked over to the front door. He reached to the top place the mistletoe on top of the door. "Now, I need a volunteer."

He faked a look of wondering who would be his volunteer. "Aha, we have a winner."

Caroline reluctantly was dragged from the living room and into the kitchen with Damon. Her familiar scent of vanilla and citrus permeated his nose instinctively making him relax in her presence. That was new yet…maybe not. Caroline leaned into his ear and whispered, "You better make this worth it."

"Do it, please!" Clara said.

He decided to make it good. He took Caroline into his arms not giving her time to react. He planted his lips to her and kissed her. He could almost taste the chocolate cocoa and marshmallows in her breath. He swore that the lip-gloss she had on was a surprisingly fruit-punch flavor. There was also something in the kiss he couldn't point out either. Before he could further explore it, Caroline broke the kiss and reluctantly looked into his eyes her face flushed a bit. His silvery blue eyes looked into her baby blue ones. She got out of his hold hurriedly and ushered Clara back to help with decorating the tree.

The same thing that shook him a little was that, she went on with the rest of the time as if the kiss never happened at all. Later on in the evening, the tree was almost done, but one vital part of the tree was missing. The star was that vital part.

Caroline turned to Damon as she picked up the antique star and held it in her hands. "This is my aunt's Christmas star. She was my mother's oldest sister. She had this in her family for a long time. She never had any children so she passed it down to me. Also, along with this house."

"Where is she now?" Damon asked her.

Caroline's eyes darkened and distanced out into space for a moment or two before answering back, "She was diagnosed with cancer not too many years back. She knew she didn't have much time left so she gave me the place, but I'm not the one for charity so I usually tell people that I bought it. If I really tried hard enough, sometimes I actually believed that I did buy it on my own. I was going through some rough patches so her dying didn't help with the process. Kat helped me out at least."

"She must be the best woman you know," he stated hoping he guessed her right.

Caroline's eyes brightened a little bit more, but not too much. "She wouldn't admit it to you, but she knew she was a good person. Of course, I am a little biased. Nevertheless, at that time, it was unbelievable. I was alone. I couldn't go to my friends. I didn't want their pity. But, I knew I needed help. That's when I met her. She held out her hand to me, and I took it. It wasn't the same since. She became the best friend I could ever have."

An urge to help her out came to him, but he was at a loss. He didn't know how to help her. However, Caroline wasn't the one for dwelling on the past. What's done has been done. She resumed the smile had on her face earlier gesturing the golden star in her hands. "Go on, Damon. I want you to do the honors."

Damon couldn't help, but be amazed at the golden star. It glittered and shined like a star almost. The star reminded him of Caroline in a way. His hands gingerly ran over the intricate designs in the Christmas star. Then an idea jumped into his brain.

"Clara, you want to help me out?" he asked her.

Clara nodded her head in excitement. "Please! Please! Please!"

"Come on. I'll give you a boost."

Clara happily raised her arms up indicating him to pick her up. He gently gathered her into his arms, and holstering her up to his shoulders. Caroline gave Clara the antique star and said, "Go ahead, baby."

With Damon's help, Clara set the star on top of the tree just right. There in that moment, it was silent, but a happy silence as they gazed at the tree that stood in all of its Christmas glory.


	10. A Daroline Christmas Part Two

**A/n: Hi, y'll! Almost freaking 20 pages. 8000 words with a little more than that. Longest chapter ever for this chapter! Please review to this! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter. It was somewhat funny putting the title in. LOL. Anyway, I need to ask. Is anyone besides me around here, is so tired of the stupid love triangle? I'm so seriously getting tired of it. That's all they pay attention to. Like I said earlier in the chapters, I am not really into the Delena thing. I'm not against it, but I'm getting so tired of the drama. I just wish she would just pick someone already! So if any Delena fans are reading this, please don't take it like I'm insulting the Delena stuff or going all hate on this. I'm not like some of the crazy hateful people on the wikia pages. Trust me, they've been really going nuts with that. **

**It's just I want to see something new come out. I will say this though. Though I love Daroline more, I am really becoming a Klaroline fan more and more as time goes by. I want to see more of the as the Klaroline relationship develops. I'm hoping they kiss or maybe even have a love scene later on during the season. Speaking of Klaroline, I'm hoping that I can bring more out of that lately. As you can see, Caroline (in my story) still has a residual attraction to him and still has feelings for him in a way. **

**Who knows? When I'm done here, I may write a Klaroline story in the future. Keep an eye out. My muse and plot bunnies love to team up. **

**Here we go with part two of our Daroline Christmas special. I hope you like it. **

**I want to thank all those who reviewed, favorite, and alerted: DarolineWritingGoddess, thisheartbeatsforyou, linalove, DelenaWarrior, .eyes.90, AmyFrancis, CaraSalvatore, Nicole, DarolineKlaroline, Guest, xostelenaxo, and starzee. **

**Chapter Main Theme: I'll Be Home For Christmas by Rascal Flatts **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries or any of the lyrics! **

Chapter 10: A Daroline Christmas Part Two

I'm so stupid.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Maybe I should go to become a nun. No, that wouldn't work. First of all, I am not a virgin. That got lost a while back with way too much tequila. Meh, at least it was the good kind and not the cheap ass crap. I have to thank Klaus for that. He always got the good stuff. Oh, that's another thing too. I cuss excessively much sometimes. There were days I was better then there were days I was worse. Nobody's perfect.

But, seriously?

Damn him, he's such a good kisser! No, he was way better than good. I can't let him know that though. Oh, wait until Katherine finds out about this. Yup, she was so going to find out because she's Katherine. She has an uncanny way of knowing things with me. I hated the fact that sometimes I could be so predictable while she was the most unpredictable. I guess that's why maybe we fit so well together as friends because we are opposite at most times. Speaking of Kat, I miss her so much. I know she has other obligations. I'm not going to impede on whatever she has to do. I'm better than that.

I heard my door creak open and I looked up to see Clara standing in the doorway. "Mama?"

"Hey. Something wrong?" I asked her.

She stayed quiet as she looked at the ground staring at her feet. She was hardly quiet. Something was up. "Come up here." I patted the other side of the bed gesturing her to come.

She climbed into the bed with little effort and got in under the covers with me. She snuggled into my side clinging to me tightly with my arms wrapped around her. It was still early in the morning so I'm sure Clara would fall asleep eventually. I couldn't sleep much anyway. Thankfully, Damon wasn't that bad off like it had been some nights before. I got at least five hours of sleep, but there wasn't anything I wouldn't do if it meant for my baby girl to be happy. I wanted her to be the happiest girl in the world.

"Now are you going to say what's wrong?" I asked her trying to get the answer out of her.

"Nothing." As always, she was too stubborn. I think she got it both from Klaus and from me, but also from me sometimes she craves affection. Sometimes though, she was too stubborn to admit it. I stroked her blonde hair as I gently tried to coax her to answer me. "Come on, baby. You can tell me."

It was then that she started to crack a little. All it took was four words. "I miss him, Mama."

That was when I knew whom she was talking about. She never talked about it much. "I know."

"You know what I want for Christmas, Mama? I want it more than anything else in the world," she asked me with excited fervor.

I think I knew this answer, but I decided to play dumb with this question. "I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

She paused for a moment before speaking again. She clung to me tighter as I held her. "I want Papa to come here for Christmas."

I knew she's wanted that for a while. Clara never usually complained about anything generally, but she would let you know what's on her mind if you asked her. I sighed as I thought of her father. Klaus was a good father to her, despite the limits of being a country apart. He always made an effort to see her and take care of her. He always called her "his little love", especially when she was a baby. He was smitten with her from the first moment he held her. That day she was born, she brought out a side of him I never thought I would see. That warm and tender paternal side I always kept to memory.

_Flashback…_

_It was very late in the evening. I was so tired and drained of energy, but I was beaming. Heck, I was smiling from ear to ear. I was doing that even in my sleep. _

_I gave birth. _

_I became a mother. _

_The birth was…well, I have no words for it. The only description I can best give is that it's kind of like being hit by a truck in the stomach area and being ripped (from the pelvis down) in half at the same time, but in slow motion. The worst part was the fact that I didn't have any drugs to help with the pain. Nope. I had to go all natur-AL. Lord, knows he could hear all the cussing and yelling I sounded off while the contractions came and I was pushing. Moreover, yeah, Klaus got the brunt of all of my yelling and screaming. _

_Katherine was there to support me, thankfully. She coached me through it like a professional. All these months she's been there helping me throughout the pregnancy. She was closer than just a best friend was. She became the sister I never had in my life due to me being an only child. She sat right beside me by the bed in an armchair checking over her phone for the time. "Wow, I still can't believe it's past midnight." _

"_So? What's the big deal?" I couldn't help, but ask. _

"_Care-Bear, you gave birth to her on April 1__st__. It's April Fool's Day." She explained to me. Holy crap! I have an April baby. Oh, my God. _

"_Great, first gift for my baby," I said sarcastically, "a pile of bad luck." _

"_Don't look at it as bad luck. Think of it as one hell of a bang to start out on." _

"_Yeah. And what's not helping out is the father of my baby is not here at the moment!" I complained. Yeah, he just had to do it, didn't he? _

"_Don't worry so much. It's typical for any new father to faint at the sight of birth." Yeah, it was common for any _common _person to faint, but Klaus wasn't just any common person. Seriously, though? Klaus, of all people? _

"_Klaus isn't just anybody." I knew I sounded bitchy, but I was anxious, and I wanted to see my baby. WHAT WAS TAKING SO LONG?_

"_Trust me, hon. Even a man like Klaus is going to suffer through very common situations just as this one. He should be here anytime now. Then again though, he had a pretty bad bump on the head. It's been an hour since you gave birth. They should be done with all the tests." Kat reassured me bluntly. Then as if her words became magic, the older nurse came pushing in with a rolling mobile crib. _

"_Someone's been wanting to see their mama," the nurse said with a maternally smile, "she's a ball of energy, this child is. She may be hungry in a while so don't be alarmed if she cries a bit." _

_I was speechless. Frozen. I could not move. All I wanted was my baby. I wanted to hold child that had been inside of me for too long. But, I decided to wait a minute. I held her in my womb for nine months. I don't know of any better than now to let Katherine hold my baby. _

"_Do you want to hold your daughter?" the nurse asked me. _

"_Not just yet. I want her to hold her," I gestured Kat with my hand. _

"_Are you sure?" The nurse asked me a bit of concern coming into her eyes. _

"_Well, my baby's been inside of me for so long. Besides, I want the godmother of my child to hold her first." I said to her. I looked to Katherine whose shock was wide clear on her face. I didn't lie. I meant what I said. _

"_Are y-y-ou ser-i-ous?" she stuttered in a low voice. She hardly ever stuttered, which was a very rare sight. She had tears pricking her chocolate eyes, but the tears never fell. _

"_You're my sister, Kat. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. I want you to be here for her in her life. So would you please accept this request and be her godmother?" _

_The nurse smiled at the sight and gently took the baby into her arms. She walked over carefully and waited for Katherine to open her arms out to take the baby. She opened her arms out, and the nurse placed my baby into Kat's arms. _

"_I'll leave you alone now. Congratulations." She said to me before she left the room. _

_I turned my gaze to my best friend who held my baby in her arms. She held my baby girl and looked at her lovingly. What surprised me the most was the experience and ease she displayed holding her as if she had done this before. I shook that nosy thought from my mind and focused on the main event. I was a mother. Now, my daughter had a godmother in her life. _

"_Caroline, she's…she's…" Katherine tried to say something, but was unable to say it with tears falling out of her eyes. I've never seen her like this. She was always tough. Always had a retort back. Always an explanation. However, to see her like this was unreal. _

_A few minutes passed between us, before she passed my baby girl to me. "It's about time you held her. She's your daughter after all."_

_I held her in my arms trying to get used to how she felt. She had thin blond curls on her head that were almost invisible to see. She had dark eyelashes just as I did when I was born. She had my eye shape and nose. There was also her forehead and eyebrows that were from me too. I saw the looks she inherited from Klaus too. She also had his mouth and chin. I probably think that my daughter may gain her father's personality. Who knows? _

"_Hi, baby girl…"_

_I wanted her to open her eyes so badly. I wanted to see which eyes she would have. I knew all baby's eyes were blue at first, but since Klaus and my eyes are both blue, I still wondered which shade of blue she would get. Would she gain my baby blue eyes or would she get Klaus's grayish-blue? I guess only time will tell. _

"_Caroline…" Kat called me, and I looked up to see Klaus standing in the doorway. _

"_You came," I commented breathlessly still holding my daughter. _

"_I was withheld back a precarious moment at the moment. No one will dare mentioning that to anyone. It was some bloody hell of a mishap." He said, but then he went silent as he stared at the baby in my arms. Katherine took that as her signal to leave. _

"_I'll get going. I'll see you later, Care. You take care of yourself." She hugged me gently aware of my daughter trying not to squeeze me too hard. _

"_I will." _

_Katherine gathered her bag and things in her hands. She took one last look at me and then to Klaus. Then she cased one longingly look to my baby girl and walked out of the room. I gave a glance to Klaus as he observed my little girl in my arms who was still asleep in her blanket. He gave me a warm small smile that only Klaus can pull off. _

"_It's a girl," I said to him. "I still can't believe I have a girl." _

"We_ have a girl. She's my daughter as much as she's yours, love," he teased playfully as he sat down next to me where Katherine previously sat earlier. "Isn't she supposed to be hungry?"_

"_You know stuff about babies?" I asked incredulously. _

"_I come from a huge family. I had to take care of my family as much as the next guy does. I know I have my flaws, but Caroline you know I will always take care of my family. Always." Klaus gazed longingly at my baby girl. Our baby girl. I knew what he wanted, but he was waiting for my permission. _

"_Do you want to hold her, Nik?"_

"_More than anything," he answered. He scooted closer to the bed waiting for me to switch. I gingerly laid her into her father's arms carefully trying not to drop her. It was then that I saw a side of him I never thought I would see coming from Klaus. Surely, I knew he cared about his family, but the paternity he displayed as he held her in his arms just surprised me. But, it was in a good way. _

_He was completely mesmerized by her. He held her close to his chest almost near to his beating heart. Then I heard a hitch in his voice. "Caroline, she's opening her eyes. She's opening them," his voice husky. _

_I leaned over as best I could to see what he was talking about. She slowly opened her eyes blinking for a minute trying desperately to focus. The eyes were blue, but it was too early to tell what distinct shade of blue they would be. I saw his face possessed a very rare tender expression. He never really opened up with his emotions, though he was quite charming. He was still the same Klaus I cared about despite the situation. My baby girl looked up to him and gave him a soft coo before returning to sleep. Caught with surprise, but happy, he kissed her on her forehead and whispered, "I love you, my little love." _

_With that sight alone, I knew he was going to be a good father despite the circumstances. _

"_What do you want to name her?" I asked him. _

"_You're the one who gave me a child. You get the honors, sweetheart," Klaus answered me. _

_I pondered of what would be perfect for her. I knew in the future with Klaus living in another country, we are going to have to balance the time of her being with him and me. He told me told he had paid paternity leave for a while, so he was able to stay with us. Katherine was going to help so that was also helping a long way. That was when I decided she would have a bit of both of us in our names. _

"_I got it. Clara Klaudia. You know the middle name is from your name, but I feminized it a little." _

_His face beamed with pride. "My name derived from the original name of 'Nicolas.' It means 'victory of the people."_

_I rolled my eyes. "Let's not forget the original name of 'Claudia', and it's the one that starts with the letter C. It's a Latin name. The name means 'perseverance.' So think of it like that, just that I replaced the C with a K."_

"_I never thought you would get so deep into knowledge," he mused. _

"_Klaus, you may be original, but you're not the only who likes to learn new knowledge now and then. Besides, there's something called the Internet. That helped me out too." _

"_I still like the name, don't I?" _

"_Oh, shut up. It's her name. Just be happy."_

"_Trust me, Caroline. I am happy. I am."_

_End of flashback…_

"Mama? Mama?" I heard coming back from me spacing out. I looked back to her again trying to figure out what I could do.

"Baby, it's still early. Why don't you go to sleep? You can sleep in here if you want."

"Thanks, Mama." She closed her eyes and fell asleep after that snuggling further under the blankets. I got myself up from the bed, and went into my closet to get dressed. I knew I had to get something going today, and I didn't have time to waste. I changed from my night-clothes to a pair of old jeans, a yellow t-shirt, and a white over sized button up man's shirt. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my blonde hair looking like a rat's nest.

"Crap, just what I need." I grumbled to myself. Maybe I should get a haircut. Maybe a trim.

I went ahead and took my brush to get rid of the knots and tangles out of my hair. Sometimes I hated the way with my hair could be so thick at times. Maybe I should thin my hair out too. I don't know.

I put my hair into a ponytail, and before I was going to leave, I decided to write in my diary. I knew I probably wasn't going to be able to write in it later with Christmas being as busy as it was.

_Dear Diary,_

_It's Caroline, again. I'm going to skip the small talk and pleasantries. It's too much waste of time. _

_Ever since Damon came into my life, my world has been shaken. I always knew what move I was going to make. Well, at least I had a chance to know where things are going. However, with him…I can't figure it out. I hate being like this. I knew any sane woman would be attracted to him. Heck! I'm attracted to the man! Even if you have to deal with the way, he is. I'm so unsure of myself when I'm around him. The last thing I need is my personal problems making its presentation to him. _

_I guess I'm going to have to admit this sometime. If I do it on paper, it'll help me for the better in the end. Okay, here I go. _

_The best way to describe Damon to me is that he's very layered. He always surprising me with something new I've never seen. He has a certain unpredictability I envy sometimes. I liked being able to predict my own choices, but when other people do it, sometimes it gets under my skin. For example, Katherine can almost predict my every move. I hated it when she did that. I voiced it more than I can count. What I saw the first time finally that morning came out a very sarcastic and almost devious persona he had of himself. Not to mention, he was so flirty with me. Then there was so an arrogance to him too. Gosh! There were so many times I just wanted to hit him just to knock off that damn smirk off his face! Then he would surprise me._

_Those nights I took care of him while he was sick were bad. Maybe even worse. I saw him suffering. I couldn't just leave him in the bitter cold. I probably said this before, but I didn't want that kind of guilt on my conscious. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. It has even gotten worse after he got better. With the amnesia, he can't remember how he got to my house. At night though, he'd be surviving night terrors. I saw him there on my couch sobbing his body out broken and alone. I couldn't help, but think to myself. Who or what could cause him so much pain like this? _

_I think the times he surprises me the most were the times he actually shows how he cares. They were always small, but I can see them. Those times I see with my daughter, I can that paternal side coming out. I saw how his face melted into something sweeter and less callous. Then there were times where he would be nice to me. Like that time he drove me back home from Wal-Mart (I still hate that store.) I didn't ask him to do it. I'm perfectly able to do things myself. He was similar to Klaus in a way it was almost uncanny. _

_Damon was a handsome man, easily. There was no denying that. He also has these gorgeous eyes. Actually, they were beyond gorgeous. They were this rare silver-blue color that made his eyes look metallic in a way. He was also a very good kisser too. A damn good kisser. _

_Okay, that's enough about Damon. I gotta go. I'll write again soon enough. _

_Truly, _

_Caroline Forbes_

I put my diary up back in its rightful place. I didn't want Clara to go through all the trouble of traveling to England on Christmas. Therefore, I decided to give a Klaus a call earlier on during the week. I made up my mind of Clara staying with me this time. He told me he understood the situation, but I knew what he was really feeling. Impatient and frustrated feelings were the key words that about summed it up. I promised him I would bring her later if he wanted to, but he said he would come up with something else, and he promised me that he would let me know.

But, when is he going to let me know?

Men! Ugh! Sometimes I can't stand the lot of them. Great! I'm thinking like a Brit now! Shit!

Before I left my room, I kept my door slightly opened just to keep an eye on her. I walked down the hall and into the kitchen. I looked into the living room to see Damon laying there mindlessly on the couch changing the channels on the television. I didn't see Rowdy in the living room, surprisingly. Usually, he never took his eyes off Damon. He's probably on one of his little adventures. I never really worried about him. He's a smart dog. He knows who feeds him. The lights in the kitchen were dim so there was enough light in here for him to see me. I made my way into the living room getting closer and closer to Damon. "Hey…"

Damon turned his eyes towards me. "Hey, Blondie."

Stupid nickname. He never quits with that, but I had no energy to argue. "You can't sleep?"

He merely shrugged his shoulders and sighed a bit, "Not really. It seems normal to me."

"It shouldn't be," I whispered.

He chuckled to himself. "You shouldn't be so worried about me. If anything, you should worry about you for a change."

What crap has he been smoking? I laughed to myself a bit, but Damon looked at me dead in the eyes. I stopped laughing when his stare fully hit me. He was actually serious. I had to give it to him. At least he was putting in an effort. "I appreciate the sentiment, but that's not you, Damon. Just be yourself. Besides, I can't afford to."

"You're wrong." He sat up from lying down and sat next to me on the couch.

"Look, Damon. I'm not trying to sound like a bitch or anything, but seriously. You just don't understand some things about me. Moreover, there are certain things you don't ask me. Can we just talk about something else?" I'm not going to explain myself to him. I refused to.

For once, he didn't have something to say back to me. There was no smartass comment. No retort, which surprised me to say the least about him.

He leaned back with his hands folded behind his head. "Well, we might as well do something to pass the time. It's still early. It'll be awhile until Clare-bear wakes up too."

What?

"Clare-bear?"

"Yeah. I heard your friend call you 'Care-bear' the other day. I thought since that Clara's your daughter, it would fit." He explained to me.

Wow. He's getting creative.

"Okay. You want to do something to kill time. What do you suggest then?" I have to see what he's going to pull next.

"How about twenty questions?"

"Nope. Ten is better." I wasn't going to do no twenty questions. Not with him. Ten was enough for me.

"Good enough. I get to ask you a question, and you answer. Then we switch." He explained to me.

I glared at him annoyed. "I know how this work. I'm not stupid."

"Oh, but you don't know mine. The first five questions are simple, but the last five no matter how personal, you have to be honest. You too chicken for it?" He challenged me using those eyes. Hmm, I was never to back down from a challenge. This is in his ball court. I'll do it.

"Do your worst," I said mocking his signature smirk.

"Your favorite color?" he started.

I sighed to myself. What have I gotten myself into? "Yellow. And yours?"

"Black."

Okay, my turn. It didn't take me long to find a question. "Favorite music?"

"Depends on the situation. What about yours?"

"Not much of an answer. I listen to a bunch of stuff, though. Favorite book?"

"Call of the Wild." He's got good tastes. "Team Edward or Team Jacob?"

What the hell? "I thought you had amnesia!"

"That's why you have the Internet. I browsed a little. No big deal." He laughed at my reaction.

Thank God, all of my documents are password encoded. I settled down a little before I started to speak again. It's Christmas. I have to be somewhat a little nicer than usual. Even if it meant for me putting up with him a little more though it was tiresome sometimes.

"Neither. I'm more into the Underworld movies. I ain't into vampires that sparkle." I said to him.

"You're right. Anne Rice was the only author who topped it off. Vampires burn in the sun. It's nice to know a woman who's not into the Twilight madness," he quickly agreed with me.

I don't know how to take that. I guess that's a compliment in his own Damon-ish way. "New question. Least favorite singer?"

"Taylor Swift. She drives me nuts." Damon complained.

I couldn't prevent the laugh coming through my lips, "That's funny. Thankfully, you don't have to use your uncanny ability to listen to Taylor Swift to please me."

"At least you're sane. I listened to some of that crap on YouTube. Big mistake. Next question before we get to the more difficult round, favorite animal?"

I pondered that question for a while. That's a toughie. "It's between dogs and horses. I can't pick out of those two."

I'm so regretting doing this. He's holding my fate in his hands. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but I really didn't want him to do this.

"What is your most embarrassing moment?"

Oh, please no. He didn't just ask me this. Come on, Caroline. You can do this. It's no big deal. You always laughed it out. Besides, I'm not going to let him get to me. "When I was twelve years old and I went to go to get my first bra fitting. It was so embarrassing because my dad was there. He didn't know how to deal with girl stuff. He was too stubborn to send me to my mom for help. He sent Steven with me to get my first bra fitting in JCPenny's."

"So, he's…"

"Yeah, my dad's gay. That wasn't the worst part for me. It was the fact his boyfriend knew more about that stuff than me," I explained to him. That's why my parents divorced in fact. My father was gone most of the time even while I lived with him. His partner was the only there mostly. At least, he treated me decently.

"Wow. I never thought I would hear that from you," he said to me. Yeah. You don't know a lot of things about me. Now, it was my turn to get dirty. Oh, no! I hated the way that sounded.

"Are you bisexual?"

He gave me a 'what the eff' look. "Where did that come from?"

"You never know these days. I'm just making sure ahead of time."

"No, I'm not bisexual or gay. I'm straight." At least, he's honest about that. Now, here comes another bad one. Three more to go before I can escape from this.

"Can you talk and walk at the same time?"

What kind of question was that?

I snorted at him. "Isn't that a little redundant? I think you've been around me long enough to answer your own question."

"I just wanted to make you laugh. Don't get mad at me for my hospitality," he said with that smirk. Dammit! I hate that smirk!

"Okay, hotshot. It's my turn. Blonde or brunette?"

"I like them both. I really can't decide. Now, here's a ringer. Speaking of hot, do you think I'm hot?" he asked me. Oh, shit! I knew it! I knew it! He had to ask me this. Come on!

"I'll get back to you on that," I said flirting. Wait, a second? Was I flirting? Me? With him?

"That's not answer."

"It's the best one you're going to get. I'm getting tired of all the questions. I'll ask you one more, but then that's it," I said to him.

"Lay it on me." I hope he wasn't being literal when he said that.

"What do you think of love? I'm only curious because it really doesn't seem you're the type to fall for one girl. You wanted the question to be personal. Lay in the bed because you made it." This should definitely even up the score. Curiosity was really getting to me badly.

Damon didn't seem fazed though. In fact, he was going honest. Holy crap. "This is my personal thought on it. You want a love that consumes you. You want passion and adventure, and even a little danger..."

Who knew those words was coming from his mouth? I never thought he would have it in him.

"Interesting answer. Look, it's almost seven. We need to get the presents under the tree. I hid them where Clara would never find them." We got up from the couch, and headed to the hall.

"Please don't tell me you hid them in the attic again," he complained.

"I'm not going to make that mistake again. They're upstairs actually. Come on, I'm gonna need a hand with this," I ordered him what? Technically, this is my house so that makes me head honcho of the place. We walked upstairs quietly to the room I used for storage. I don't know what I'm going to do with it. I'm not sure.

"Clara never goes inside of this room unless I tell her to. Of course, she's still a kid so there are probably times she went in here with my back turned. She's a curious one," I said as I opened the door gathering the presents into her arms.

Damon gathering the rest of it asked, "Does she get that trait from you?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I often wondered about that. It could be from me, but I think she gets it from her father."

Now that's a topic I am so not jumping into.

We got back into the living room in time, and we put the presents under the tree. Now, the Christmas tree was complete. Thanks to some certain help too.

I stood next him as we looked at the tree that was finally complete with everything. "Damon, I want to thank you for helping me. I appreciate it."

"No problem," he said to me.

Nevertheless, I had to make sure he knew he was wanted here. I made him face him as I placed my hands on my shoulders. "Look at me, Damon," I demanded, "I really do appreciate it. It may be a shock to you, but you're welcome here. Clara wants you here." I hesitated on the last part that was going to come from my mouth, but I said it anyway clear and true. "I want you here."

Damon stood there stiff. His eyes held an emotion I couldn't place or name. However, an appreciative, but rare smile appeared on his face. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I replied.

Damon and I settled for just watching the television as we waited for Clara to wake up, which wasn't long because I heard the pitter-patter of footsteps coming down the stairs and into the living room. Clara came walking in with sleep still clear in her eyes. I noted how she wasn't that excited about the presents Damon and I had put under the tree. She was silent. I knew what was still wrong with her. She was never usually like this. I desperately hoped she wasn't going to start crying.

She made her way silently next to me on the couch, and cuddled into my side. My heart broke for her to be feeling like this. I sighed heavily. I still had to go to Wal-Mart to make sure I had enough food for the Christmas dinner tomorrow.

It seemed I wasn't the only one desperately hoped she wasn't going to start crying.

She made her way silently next to me on the couch, and cuddled into my side. My heart broke for her to be feeling like this. I sighed heavily. I still had to go to Wal-Mart to make sure I had enough food for the Christmas dinner tomorrow.

It seemed I wasn't the only one who noticed Clara's lack of energy this morning.

"Is she okay?" Damon asked looking over to see Clara.

"She's just missing her father right now. She doesn't get like this often, but when she does. It's gets hard for her to perk up. I still need to go to Wal-Mart to get stuff for tomorrow, but I don't want to bring her to all of that crap." I said to him as I stroked Clara's blonde locks.

"Where is her father?"

"It's complicated, Damon. Too long of a story to tell," I said too tired to explain. I really need to get more sleep often.

"You go ahead and go. I'll take her of her," he said to me as he stood up gesturing me to pass Clara to him.

"I don't know. Are you sure you're up to this?" I asked can't help the overprotective mother side of me coming out.

"I'm sure. This is no big deal, Blondie. I'm okay with this," he reassured me. I stood up slowly trying not to jostle up my little girl. I was so nervous about this. Shouldn't I be?

Damon opened his arms to take her. "It's up to you when you're ready."

Come on, Caroline. You have to trust him sometime. He hasn't done anything drastic. It's been almost a month since he came here. Done with arguing with myself, I slowly and hesitantly put Clara into his arms as he held her to his hip. Her eyes were half-lidded as she just stared at the ground sullen.

"Go ahead. She'll be fine when you get back," he told me. I watched a little bit as he stood there shifted his weight from foot to foot. It was as if he was…almost rocking her in his own way.

Okay! I gotta get out of here. I threw on my jacket and my winter hat with my tennis shoes. I gathered my purse and keys. "I won't be long, okay."

"Go," Damon said to me.

I left the house, and headed out into the cold weather. I went into my car and drove off to Wallyworld. This ought to be interesting.

**{Wide Awake)**

Damon sought to the young girl in his arms. He looked down at her with concerned eyes. "What's wrong, Clara?"

Clara didn't budge. She remained unresponsive to him. What had shocked him the most was that he could feel her shaking like a leaf. She clenched to his shirt tightly with her small hands. Damon was at a loss of what he could do to comfort her. Then he struck an idea. Familiarity flooded his brain with something he couldn't place. It wasn't memory, but there were feelings strikingly similar to this. There was something familiar and peaceful about being a soother for someone's pain. He figured that it might be this would be a good time to test that theory.

"You're going to have to tell me sometime, kid," he told her as he walked over to the comfortable recliner and sat down. He handed himself the blanket next to the chair and covered both he and Clara under the blanket. He repositioned Clara against his chest with her ear against his beating heart. He didn't know why this foreign empathetic feeling washed over him when he saw her, but he couldn't ignore it. He was glad Caroline wouldn't use this as blackmail, though there was no one to blackmail to yet.

He hummed a very familiar song that came to him as he rocked the recliner back forth. He couldn't remember the words, but he could vaguely remember the melody. Clara felt relaxed more and more as she felt Damon rubbing her back. Somehow, it didn't take long for Clara to worm her way into his heart.

Whatever she was doing, it was working. And he hated it. Okay, here's a better way to put it. He doesn't like other people seeing him so soft. Then there was another question.

Why?

**{Wide Awake}**

I hate Wal-Mart.

I hate it with a passion.

I hate it with a capital H.

I know. Where's the love? Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but I am no damn hippie.

Thankfully, I gathered all the food I needed to make the Christmas dinner. I knew I bought a lot, but it's best to be prepared for any circumstances. Especially with unexpected guests, though I highly doubt any of them are coming.

I walked up to the front door, and dug into my purse to get my keys. I hated the fact I can't find my own keys. Just what I need. "Where are they? UGH!"

Then I found out that they were in my hands the whole time. I'm losing my head. I'm really becoming a true blonde. I need a damn aspirin. I heard Rowdy's claws click on the wood of the front porch. He came in panting with a smile on his face. "Well, you came back from your adventure at least. I'm going to wake up his majesty. He might as well prove his worth around here."

Rowdy barked back to me. I rolled my eyes. Why did I even get this dog?

By the time I got back, Damon was still in the living room sitting in the recliner holding Clara. He kept rocking back and forth. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that may be, just may be…he looked at peace. I slowly and quietly took out my iPhone, and took a picture with a click. That's when Damon looked up with wide eyes. "What the -"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to expose your soft and sweet side. It's not going to be used as blackmail," I reassured him.

He let out a breath of relief. "Don't do that to me. I don't want that to ruin my reputation."

"That's if you have a reputation to begin with," I scoffed.

"Come on, I'm sure the women love me. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style and my charm and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift."

I then turned to check on Clara safely nestled into his lean arms. Caroline, stop checking him out! Focus! "How is she?"

"She's asleep, but she's not going to feel any better unless she wants to," he said bluntly.

I sighed. What am I going to do? There's only so much. "Give her to me. If you take care of the groceries in my car, I'll take care of her. Besides, you need to earn your keep around here anyway."

"Whatever you say," he went outside to do his task, which left me to mine.

"Baby, I know you miss him. But, please listen to me. I will do whatever it takes to get you to see him. Do you understand me?" I asked her.

She looked at me with those big blue eyes. "I understand."

"Why don't you get changed in your room, and I'll follow you," I urged her with my hand on the small of her back. I watched her as she went up the stairs. What am I going to do? I've been asking myself that so much lately, it's not even funny.

There came in Damon with arms full with bags of groceries I bought. It was somewhat funny seeing him struggle a little. Oh, well.

"What is in these bags? Dead bodies?"

"Just a bunch of stuff I have to prepare for tomorrow. Give yourself a break. I need to help Clara." I left to go see my daughter. She made an effort to change into another outfit. She placed a smile on her face, but I knew it was forced.

"Baby, just try to be happy today. Who knows? Maybe if you behave well enough, you might get what you want for Christmas," I tried to help her out.

"Even my Christmas wish," she asked me.

"Even yours. Now, go ahead and see Damon. He's getting a little nervous with the sad you. He misses you." Though he wouldn't admit that aloud. She silently walked down the stairs, and headed into the living room and watched the Christmas specials playing on ABC Family. Damon was playfully joking around and teasing. I joined into the fun. All of three of us we cutting up and having a good time. We made fun of the commercials while Clara was laughing clearly from the entertainment of Damon and me. I haven't had that much fun in a long time. Soon enough time flew faster than I anticipated, and it was getting late.

Clara was soon falling asleep on the floor. I chuckled to myself. My baby girl…

"It's time for someone to be put into bed. I'll be right back, Damon," I carried my daughter into my arms. I quickly put her into bed, and had her under the covers. I smiled lovingly down at her, and I closed the door. I made my way downstairs stopping momentarily to be hearing…music?

What the hell?

Into the living room, I saw the TV was still on, but it looked like it was on those music-playing channels. There was Christmas music playing in the background. I remembered this song. It felt familiar. "What's all this about?"

"You did a lot for me, and you've put up with the not so great me more than you should. So I thought I could do something that could make you relax?" he said standing in the middle of the dance floor holding his hand out to me.

I didn't know what to say. My mind went blank.

"Come on, Blondie. Don't be such a chicken." He teased me.

"Stop calling me, Blondie."

"Okay, then. _Caroline, _would you like to dance?"

Whoa.

"I'll be honored," I said to him. He took my hand to lead me into the middle of the living room. A soft playing of music filling the air He put one hand on the small of my back sending tingles down my spine. His other free hand grasped mine as I laid my free hand on his shoulder. There it was again. The tingling and the sparks. Am I crazy? And slowly, he swayed and led me to the beat of the song.

_**Baby  
I'll be home for Christmas  
You can count on me  
Please have snow and mistletoe  
And presents under the tree**_

That song just reminded me of Klaus or rather that Clara wanted him home for Christmas. Gosh, I hated seeing her sad little face. My heart broke out for her. I need a Christmas miracle or something. It's going to be the only thing that will make her truly happy.

_**Christmas Eve will find me  
Where the love light gleams  
I'll be home for Christmas  
If only in my dreams**_

There were no words said between us. I was too scared and freaked out to say anything. Honestly, I didn't want to ruin this moment. When was the last time I ever was asked to dance anywhere? I hated silence, but I was too frozen in my brain to speak. I did laugh though when he spun me. I never knew he was this classy.

_**I'll be home, I'll be home  
If only in my dreams  
I'll be home, I'll be home  
If only in my dreams**_

_**I'm dreaming tonight of a place I love  
Even more than I usually do  
And although I know it's a long road back  
I promise you**_

Promises are big things to keep up with. I intend to keep up with mine. I'm going to give Damon a home while we wait for his amnesia clears up. I knew the risk I was taking, but I always knew how to take care of myself. I'm not little girly Caroline anymore. I'm different. I changed.

_**I'll be home for Christmas  
You can count on me  
Please have snow and mistletoe  
And presents under the tree**_

_**Christmas Eve will find me  
Where the love light gleams  
I'll be home for Christmas  
If only in my dreams**_

_**I'll be home, I'll be home  
If only in my dreams**_

Wow, this will probably be a good Christmas after all.

**{Wide Awake}**

Clara woke up with the morning light spilling in through the curtains of her windows in the bedroom. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Christmas was her favorite holiday usually. She always went crazy with energy when it came to it. But, not this time did she react.

She missed him so much. She didn't want much for Christmas. That's why she prayed and wished extra hard for her Christmas wish to come true to God.

She didn't know what time it was, but she knew it was around mid-morning being the observant child she always was. She was lost in her thoughts when she heard her mom call out to her, "Come on down, baby! It's Christmas!"

Clara slowly obeyed her mother, and headed downstairs. When she came downstairs to the kitchen and the living room, she saw the same two people. There was Damon sipping his coffee, but was paying attention to her mama. But, where her mama was wasn't usual? Who was she talking to at the door?

Her mama turned around to Clara with a big smile. "Baby, there's someone at the door who wants to see you."

That was when she saw her Christmas wish standing right in the doorway with his arms out open wide ready for her.

It came true. Her Christmas wish came true.


	11. The More, the Merrier

**A/n: Here we go again with the next chapter of Wide Awake. We finally get to see the grand entrance of Klaus. I bet you've anticipated this for a while. It's about time, anyway. But, I have a couple of surprises for you. This is going to be a starter chapter for bringing out the Originals. I am going to split the Original Christmas too so more to enjoy. I don't know how long it's going to be. I'm hoping it'll be done in three chapters at least. This is going to be the precursor to the Original Christmas. This is a little shorter than I usually do so sorry. First, we see what's going on with the girls, and then we shift onto the guys in the next chapter. Hehehe.**

**Chapter Main Theme: Any Christmas song you can think of now. **

**I would to thank all those who reviewed, favorite, and alerted this story: DarolineWritingGoddess, Guest, .eyes.90., DarolineKaroline, CaraSalvatore, DelenaWarrior, linalove, AmyFrancis, VampCaroline, XWrittenInTheStarsX, XDarkParadiseX, DanaBlood, and TealyBob. **

**I do have one Christmas wish, guys. Before Christmas, I'm hoping to get 100 reviews by Christmas. Please get my story up to that, and that would make me happy a lot :D I'm still going to update this, but I just wanted to let you know how I feel. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries!**

Chapter 11: The More, the Merrier

Unbelievable. I'm speechless. Not only was Klaus here, but Clara finally got her Christmas wish. It finally came true. Have I said I was speechless? Okay, I talk excessively much. I have been told from more than one person. Klaus did throw me a curve ball.

"Hello, love," he softly murmured as he lifted her into his arms, "oh, you're getting big. And, you're beautiful too."

Clara always knew she had Klaus wrapped him around her finger. Any common person could make that observation. But, Klaus didn't mind at all. She loved her father despite of the mistakes he made in the past. That was a trait I was thankful for in Clara. She quick to forgive. He was never usually like that unless it was under extreme circumstances. But, he would do anything for her."I know, Papa."

He set her down on the floor and turned to me. "Good to see you too, love. You're beautiful as always."

I nodded to him happy, but still shocked that he came. "Likewise. But, what's with the surprise?"

"Well, there was some help involved. I wasn't alone when I came on this trip. In fact, we also ran into someone earlier too," he answered cryptically. Great, now he's pulling off that stupid mystery crap. Damn! Dang! I need to stop cussing.

That's when I caught on to what he said. "What do you mean you're not the only one here? Who did you run into?"

"Enough with the questions, love. Let yourself see it to believe it."

What is he up to now?

"Nik! Are you done in there? Get out us out of the cold, would you! It's bloody freezing!" yelled an impatient female voice. I rolled my eyes. I knew exactly who that was. I would know that voice ten miles away if I had to.

Rebekah Mikaelson…in the flesh.

Boy, I'd be damned. He brought his family over the States for Clara. Oh, my God.

Klaus, Clara, and even Damon gathered on the porch with me watching the Mikaelsons come out one by one out of the sleek black vehicle parked in my driveway. Don't worry, it wasn't a limo. Thank God, because I wouldn't be the one taking it out of my yard.

First came out Rebekah, always fashionably late as usual. Growing up as the only girl in the family really toughens you up a notch. She was a few years younger than I was. She was in her early twenties from what I remembered. She sometimes reminded me of Katherine in some ways yet she was different. Nevertheless, as a Mikaelson, good looks often ran rampant in their gene pool.

She had long thick, straight blonde hair with vivid icy blue eyes. We were about the same when it came to the same height. She was the most temperamental of the group, but she had a nicer and less malicious side to her to her family. We got along well enough on a certain level. When it came to Clara, she always went out of her way to make her feel loved. The way she liked to show it was doting on her with girlish things. Rebekah always made Clara feel like a princess. Dresses, hair accessories, and anything girly that you can name, she would always bring something back from England to give to Clara. It was no doubt she loved her niece. Especially, since she was the daughter of her favorite and closest brother.

She was a dancer. Rebekah took up dancing instead of going into the family business, which almost caused a big blowout for their family. Especially, with the drama that crawls with Klaus when he supported her decision. The family business they owned was a completely new story to begin with.

The Mikaelson's ancestry was dated long back in England to almost the Medieval Ages. They started as land owners, but soon they began to expand later on. Currently, they were known for owning a chain of hotels. I'm not talking hotels at the Western Inn or some dingy motel. I'm talking prestigious, high-quality hotels. Essentially, they were like the British version of the Hiltons. They had a couple of hotels in Europe. The most popular were the ones in London (obviously), Paris, and Madrid.

It's a little too conceited to me to name your child after your last name though. I'm talking about the head patriarch of their family, Mikael Mikaelson. Trust me, it's still too strange and conceited to me. Anyway, it had been a special tradition to run the family business. I was surprised they held their business together even though they had their problems, but they were made of tough stuff. They never let things get in their way. They went after what they wanted.

It always came to that saying that every family has its drama. They sure wasn't lying when that saying came out of the blue. The Mikaelson family definitely fit the bill with that.

"Let's not get into a spat, Bekah. It's Christmas," Klaus said smoothly.

But, Rebekah didn't buy the act. "Nik, leave the civilized peacemaking to Elijah. That whole act just really doesn't suit you well. Now, where's my niece at?"

"Here I am!" Clara called out to her aunt as she hugged her leg.

Rebekah smiled down at her niece. "I see that. And you're still in your pajamas? That's very naughty of you, but not to worry, Clara. Aunt Bekah is here to the rescue. I hope you don't mind, Caroline."

"Caroline!" A voice called out snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned to see Klaus waving his hand in front of me. Damon stood idly by me unusually quiet. Rebekah stood there tapping her foot a bit impatiently.

"Sorry! You can go ahead inside. I don't mind." I said to her giving her my permission. Rebekah nodded back to me and headed inside mumbling something about being inside of the "bloody cold." I guess this is racial profiling, but there's always been something funny to me about a British accent. I don't know. It's one of those things I can't explain but you would have to see it for yourself.

That's another little thing about me. I love anything that makes me laugh, especially sitcoms. For example, that's why I have so much of the _Big Bang Theory_ at my house. Do you know those old sitcoms that came on TV in the 90's and earlier? Those are the best ones (according to me that is.) Those shows like _Roseanne, The Nanny, Full House, _and some others were the best. However, then you have to remember those are only the American ones. I had favorites in the British department too: _Keep Up Appearances, Last of the Summer Wine, Waiting For God,_ and…and…Crap! I forgot again! Stupid memory!

I looked back to the black vehicle seeing two more people coming out. First, it was Elijah, Klaus's older brother.

"Uncle 'lijah!" my daughter greeted excitedly as she rushed into her favorite uncle's arms. He hugged her very tight wrapping his arms around her. Sometimes I felt rather empty with loneliness sometimes yearning for a brother or sister. The only one close to that place was Katherine. She was the person I could ever called my sister.

"Hello, sweetheart," he greeted back his niece.

Elijah Mikaelson was a man of honor and morals. He had a calm nature that made up for his family's known tempers. Wherever he got his personality from was still a mystery to me I will never be able to solve. Elijah was often the peacemaker in the family brood as the eldest of the siblings. Very intelligent man with a steady head on his shoulders, he always knew what to do in any situation. He had a long width of patience and tolerance I often envied. Yours truly could only wish for it in fantasies. Moreover, as always, he was granted with the Mikael son good looks as well. He had dark brown hair with the eyes to match, and not to mention a hidden well-toned body under the immaculate suits he always wore.

Don't worry. I didn't date Elijah. I've only seen Klaus. Besides, Elijah and me are just good friends. I see him like an older brother I never had.

My eyes then found on the woman unknown to me. She was tall. About 5'7 in height, I can guess take it or leave it. Her facial features were catlike and she had a grace to her limber like a cat too. The woman had high cheekbones in her face. She had light brown hair the fell just to her shoulders. She was very beautiful. She looked a little bit older than I was. Her blue eyes stood out from her heart-shaped face.

Does everyone I know have blue eyes or is it just me being crazy? Okay, that was random.

She wore skinny jeans with almost knee-high light brown leather boots. They looked American in style. There was also a matching watch with it. She had a creamy white sweater on too that hugged her figure.

"Klaus," I started, "who's that?"

"Do you remember what I told you a while back on the web chat?"

I paused to myself trying to remember what he said that might have stood out from the rest. After pondering for a minute, it hit me as if I ran into a brick wall. "She's your fiancée, isn't she?" I asked slowly knowing what the answer was.

"Rose. Can you come here, please?" Klaus asked her.

So that was her name? I thought with the name Rose that the girl would be a redhead. Oh, crap. I'm stereotyping again. This was from falling asleep to_ Titanic_ too many times. The brown-haired woman with blue eyes came up to Klaus and me as Elijah, Clara, and Damon headed inside of the house.

"We'll wait for you inside if that's okay," said Elijah with his well-displayed manners holding Clara's hand.

"Go on ahead. You're always welcome here. It's Christmas." I gave him a forced smile I put on trying to straighten out these emotions running through me now. There was so much, I couldn't pinpoint them out. All three of them went inside of my house leaving the three of us outside in the cold on the porch. As much as I wanted to unleash all of my profound emotion, I had enough sense to calm down with myself and not to embarrass myself in front of them.

"So this wasn't only about Clara. You had to drop the news on me sometime, huh?"

"There wasn't any better time than this, love. We didn't want to intrude. Besides, it was her idea to come on Christmas and be here," he explained to me. I deadpanned for a moment. Her idea? That woman had the…

"Care-bear!" No way. It couldn't be. Was it really her? In addition, there pulling up in the driveway waving from the car window was Kat and there was someone else in there too. Oh, my God. What's up with my house crawling with more people? Damn…

"Hey, Kat!" Forgetting Klaus and Rose, I ran to the driveway and headed toward her car. I ran, but as soon as my shoes hit the icy driveway, I tumbled and slipped falling on my ass. "OH, DAMN! I'M GETTING TO OLD TO BE THIS CLUMSY!"

What also didn't help was that everyone was laughing at me (except for Rose.) Great. Just great. Merry Christmas to me.

"Ha…ha…ha…very funny. Can we not laugh at my stupid clumsy feet?" As I tried to get up, Klaus and others tried to help me up, but I waved my hands out pushing them away. "I'm not an invalid. I can still use my legs."

"We're only trying to help, love," Klaus reassured me. As if I needed any of that reassurance crap now with what's been happening. Who's coming next? The Easter Bunny?

"Since when did I ever need help?" I grumpily replied.

The last thing I needed was people thinking of me as some damsel in distress. Nope, I am not like that at all. I always took care of myself on my own. I never needed help from anyone. Sure, I accepted help when it came to Clara, but I usually handled things on my own. I'm independent.

Kat smirked. "Well, the source of your problem is not your fault. You just haven't mastered the art of the heel like yours truly, here." She pointed to the black heels she had on with her outfit. She had a nice purple sleeveless top sported with a small black long-sleeved jacket. She had dark jeans too. She looked flawless as usual with her smoky bedroom eyes and glorious curled brown hair. She always looked beautiful. I was never envious of her, but my insecurities sometimes liked to claw their ways out inside of my head.

I pushed myself up to stand on my own two feet. I brushed off my jeans and gray light sweater I wore. I even had my leather jacket on to help me out with the cold. Thankfully, my jeans weren't too bad and it was only water so I knew it was going to dry off in a little while. Moreover, no, I wasn't trying to pull off a Damon-outfit. I'm not that crazy or obsessed. My own ankle boots, I had to admit were a little high, but I was Caroline Forbes. This isn't a big deal to me. Heck, I wasn't a shopper for nothing. Especially, when it came down to me buying shoes whether it was in a store or on the Internet, I could make a run to.

"Thank you, Miss Conceited and Vain. Can you introduce who you brought here before I really do something stupid?" That snarky comment slipped out of me before I could hold it in. But, Kat didn't take it as an insult.

"Come on, Care. The ranting's cute, but we need to get this rolling," she said to me.

Cute? Did she just…UGH! Oh, I oughta…

"We'll go inside," Klaus said as he ushered his fiancée and himself to the inside of my house.

"This is my Uncle Alaric. His son was feeling better, so I had some extra time. We finished Christmas earlier this morning, and he decided to come along with us."

I looked at Kat's uncle up and down. He was taller than most men I've known. He was probably just as tall as Elijah was, and trust me, that man was tall. He held out his hand to me to shake. "Alaric Saltzman. Just call me, Ric."

I took his hand to shake it. "My name's Caroline. Nice to meet you too. It's unexpected, but nice."

"Come on! You two are already boring me to death as it is." There goes Katherine again being her old self.

"I guess we must do what her majesty says," I muttered to myself. Sometimes, I don't know how I even put up with her.

Alaric quickly followed me into my home. All of us were inside now, and it seemed going along all right. Elijah and Klaus were talking. Rose was making small talk with Damon, but I felt sorry for him for not talking with any male company. It always did take a while before Klaus would get to know someone. Well, it was different in my case. Never mind, that was a different story for another time.

"Kat, told you what do, right?"

"Yeah. Just act like my normal self around him. Don't make him feel so awkward. I better go before she throws a fit," Alaric joked.

I laughed. That was definitely Katherine. Speaking of her, where was she? I then saw her, and my eyes went big. Oh, no. She had the look. Great, who's her target now?

"Oh, crap," I muttered.

"What's wrong?" Alaric asked.

"Kat at nine o'clock." I pointed out. Katherine had always been flirty, and she knew she was sexy and she knew it. However, when she had "The Look" on, someone had better hold on to their partners because once she flirts with someone, she's not going to stop. Kat has her ways that I've been wary of and have seen in action. Good thing she wasn't gay. Not that I don't mind them, I mean, hey, I was raised around that. Nevertheless, I would be having a problem. What she did was her own business, but I really get uncomfortable when she flirts with someone I know personally. Especially, when she flirted with one of the family. So yeah, do you want to know who her target was?

It was Elijah.

Shoot me now. Just what I freaking need. First, I have to deal with Damon the stray, then the father of my child shows up with not only his family, but also his fiancée, Kat shows up with her uncle making this even more interesting, and I find her flirting with my ex-boyfriend's older brother. Oh, this is going to be a long day.

"Rebekah!" I called out.

"What is it now?" She asked annoyed as she brought down my little girl all prettied up in her dress and hair nice.

"Please tell me you brought some wine on this trip," I hoped to whatever luck I had left in me she brought some with her. The Mikaelsons were notorious for their drinking. Well, they only drank from the best. It never surprised me that their father could be an alcoholic. Wasn't he one?

"Always the best. Why?"

"Cause I'm going to need a couple of glasses of it before the day is out, but make sure no one else gets to it. I don't need him drinking himself to a stupor," I remarked pointing out to Damon as he was talking to Ric.

"I'm assuming you don't want to explain it."

"Trust me on this one," I said to her, "you don't even want to know."

**Cont'd A/n:** **I celebrated Christmas ever since I was kid. It's just something I was raised with. I respect that everyone is going to have a different opinion. I'm not judging. I'm not here to insult, impeded, or accuse anyone who's views are different. I'm not here to do this so I can get all the glory. This is just something I feel better about doing if I can get this off my chest. I have to do something. **

**Here's just a little something about Christmas I would like to share with you for a moment. I'm not pressuring you to listen to this, but if you want to take a gander at this, go ahead. Christmas is more than just getting presents under a tree. It's more than receiving. There's also that has to be giving into it too. It's also a time for peace. It's a time for getting together with friends and family. It's also a time for forgiving too. **

**The best gift to receive on the holiday isn't something you can just put in a box and wrap it up in a bow. But, with this gift, you don't have to buy it. You don't have to save your money to get this gift. All you have to do is ask for it. That gift is Jesus Christ. He was sent by God to save us from our sins and to forgive us from the mistakes we've made in our lives. No one is perfect. I've done plenty of mistakes too many to list in mine. I know any relationship with anyone; even Jesus can be very difficult. I have had my troubles. However, as long as you come with an open and humble heart, and with a wish to try to be a better person than who you are now, it will be better in the long run. Like I said, I'm not here to judge anyone. Just remember that Jesus Christ was and still is the greatest gift you can ever receive. That's all I am asking for you to do. **

**This is probably the longest author's note I did in my life. Sorry, for rambling on, but just take a few minutes of your time just to think about what I said. I am not pressuring anyone. Have a safe holiday, and a Merry Christmas! I'll update soon! **


	12. Girl Talk

**A/n: Happy New Year, everyone! I'm above one hundred reviews! Oh, my gosh. That's huge for me! I've been tending to have tendencies to make banners for stories that I like. It's been becoming a hobby for me. Is anyone else having problems with the hiatus? When I saw the last promo, I just wanted to hug Stefan now so badly. I can't help, but feel sorry for him. Caroline is cool! I feel a little down because the Klaroline couple looks two steps forward and then three steps back. I hope I am not the only one getting tired of the Delena vs. Stelena drama. It's getting kind of boring. I'm ready for the new stuff. **

**Chapter Main Theme: Everybody Loves Me by OneRepublic**

**This chapter is a little short and I'm sorry! I rushed it! I am so shamed of myself for this! Bad me! BAD! I've be so busy with stuff, and I wanted to bring something out tonight before 2013 shows up! I hope you like it though. More Daroline in this. Hehehe. **

**I want to thank all of those who reviewed, favorited, and alerted: starzee, DarolineWritingGoddess, thisheartbeatsforyou, xostelenaxo, linalove, DanaBlood, Guest, .eyes.90, Guest #2, TeamStefanBitches, xWrittenInTheStars, rudyrick, and a special thanks to VampCaroline who is the 100****th**** reviewer! YAY!**

**Thank you so much for supporting me through this! OMG! I have got to stop rambling on and on!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries! I only own Clara and Rowdy!**

Chapter 12: Girl Talk

If there's one thing I learned growing up around Christmas, it's that there were a few unspoken rules you just don't break. For example, leave the cooking to women in the kitchen. Moreover, while it's going on, anything below the age of eighteen or even's a man older than that, they must stay out of the kitchen. Too much bad stuff happens when they stick their heads into something they don't belong in. Even if some of the men now in the house were good cooks, they must stay out of the kitchen. Moreover, I made sure they knew.

I grabbed my apron from one of the cabinets in the kitchen. It was white with red writing on it in big capital letters.

**IN THIS HOUSE  
****TWO RULES APPLY:**

** #1) I'M THE BOSS**

** #2) SEE RULE #1**

That ought to spell things out.

"You still have that apron," Kat stated as I tied it around my waist.

"I know how much you hate it, but you can kiss my ass. I am not getting rid of this." I had already gotten the food and ingredients to make the dinner for later today. Thankfully, I was fully ready for unexpected guests. I can only hope I had enough food for everyone.

"Mama! Mama!" Clara called out to me as she ran toward us.

"Are you happy now, baby?" I said as I gathered her into my arms.

"Yup." She said popping out the 'p'.

"I need you to go hang out in the living room. Me and girls are going to be busy in the kitchen." I couldn't check on Clara while I was so busy with everything else going on in here.

"But, I wanna stay here and help you." She said to me using the puppy eyes. That's not going to work on me this time. I have too much stuff to do and too little time to do it.

"I'm only going to tell you this once. Go into the living room and stay there," I said sternly looking at her dead in the eyes. I wish I could have just compelled her, but this wasn't a fantasy. I guess everyone has wished for one somehow.

"No!" Clara outright refused me stomping her foot on the floor. Now, we're seeing the Klaus's impulsive and stubborn side coming out.

"Clara Klaudia Forbes!" two stern and distinct male voices echoed through the room. I was a little shocked to see Klaus and Damon disciplining my daughter. Then they looked at each other with emotion that I couldn't detect. Klaus was always impossibly good at hiding his feelings and moods. He always held the perfect poker face. Damon, however, had his own way of hiding the emotion he had. I had personally seen both of them behind the walls they put up. I reckon that Klaus had quite a competition in that round.

However, boy there was an elephant in the room. That elephant was Damon.

Great, now I have to save his ass. Again. Wow, isn't it great being charitable?

Nope, it does not.

I gave a silent nod to Klaus, and I yanked Damon by the arm. "We'll be right back."

**{Wide Awake}**

The whole room was unusually silent. It spoke volumes. Kat's amused. Ric's face was neutral at the time. Rebekah's annoyed. Rose was slightly confused. Klaus's temper was about to make its entrance known to the crowd as usual. Elijah…well he's just being whatever Elijah does. Really cannot explain on that one. Thank God, there was alcohol or this would not be able to go along any faster.

Klaus ignoring all the incessant talking and the annoying taxing situation focused on Clara. He bent down with a hard, stern look to his face matching to his eyes that matched his daughter's own. "You know better than to disobey your mother, young lady."

"But…I…" She tried to protest to him, but Klaus wouldn't have at it.

"I told you whatever she asks of you, you do it. If she has ask of you more than once of anything else again, you're not going to get any presents. Do you understand me?"

"But, Papa!" Clara complained. Klaus had to kill the urge to let out a heavy sigh. He never liked that impulsive and rather stubborn side Clara inherited from him. He rarely got onto her about anything, but alas she was still a child and it was normal for any younger child to have the tendency to rebel. He stayed firm and unrelenting.

"Do you understand me?" He urged more forcefully, but not too harshly.

With Clara seeing the look on her father's face, she finally relented and stepped down. "Yes, Papa."

Klaus watched his daughter saunter into the living room going towards Elijah sitting on the couch asking him silently to hold her in his lap. Elijah didn't mind, and he placed her on his knees.

Thankfully, Klaus was glad that he knew of Caroline's secret alcohol stash. It wasn't much, but she had good state. He poured himself some scotch into the glass and drank letting the hard liquor go down his throat. He paid little attention to the noises of talking the others were making.

"What just happened?" Rose asked aloud finally breaking the ever thick silence.

"Well, whatever that was, this is what I never thought how to get a Christmas get-together started," Rebekah said as she gathered another glass of wine. Who knows how many more she's going to need?

"Oh, puh-lease," Katherine snorted, "It's only getting started. I'm glad I came here after all. We're getting all the entertainment with front row seats. Right, Uncle Ric?"

Alaric shook his head. "I'm just going to stay out of this one."

"Are you always this annoying? I'm surprised how I survived Caroline all these years," said Rebekah doing nothing to hide the heavy annoyance in her voice.

"Bitchy is the word I rather use for myself. Caroline's put up with me longer than you think, and you get used to one another. At least, I know Clara is used to me. I only annoy her sometimes. I have that special right." Katherine replied with a smirk. This was just old news. She knew how to handle herself. She's been around Klaus enough to get a good gist of what his family would be like. Also, Caroline's description of the Mikaelsons had helped along with it, but Kat is not going to admit that out loud.

"The only times you annoy me is when you call me 'shorty,' Aunt Kat." Clara proudly admitted to everyone.

Elijah's face changed into bewilderment. "What is your relation to my niece if I may ask?"

Katherine glanced at Klaus's brother surprised by his tone of voice. Polite and good looking? Katherine saying she was impressed didn't even do him justice. Handling with her experience with men, usually she was the one who held the puppet strings. She held no guilt trip over using them to her expense to get what she wanted or for her own self-preservation. Not often did people ever cross into her occasional good side. Kat knew fully well, what she was. She was selfish. She didn't complain. If anything, she'll gladly admit that to you. But, occasionally that softer side would come out if she trusted you enough.

But, she was still ashamed a bit though, and that right there was enough to make Kat cringe of even admitting that exposing herself truly. She had trust issues. She and Klaus knew to a certain mutual level what it was like to be guarded and private. To lock your own secrets up in a trunk, and to throw away the key seemed like the only way to get away from it all. There are things that are just better to keep to you. That's why Katherine rarely let people in. It was a wonder even to herself that Caroline had woven into her life so quickly. (Clara also had something to do with that too.) All of those years were what Kat had kept under lock and key . She intended to make it stay that way unless it was dire important to release.

Back to reality…

The brown-haired woman cocked her head to Elijah's brother with a look mixed with surprise and irritation. "Geez, Klaus! Did you even tell them?"

Klaus returned her an irritated look to the woman. "What am I supposed to be? Some bloody messenger?"

"I'll just spoil it to you then. I'm her godmother. It's not supposed to be that shocking. Not everything that happens in life is a soap opera."

Rebekah being shocked of it all can't even describe the half of it. If there was one thing that aggravated her up the wall, it was being left out of the loop. Especially, when the important information is withheld from her when it came down to family affairs.

"Nik! Why didn't you tell me?!" the blonde-haired woman exasperated.

Aggravated, Klaus just emitted a low growl. "Just shut up and drink your damn wine."

"Bugger it all," Rebekah grumbled.

Rose pinched the bridge of her nose closing her eyes and shaking her head. She never knew her future family was going to be like this. What did she get into now? "Oh, my God."

Elijah took another sip of his coffee and smirked. "I think the term you're looking for is…O.M.G."

**{Wide Awake}**

I dragged him down forcefully down outside into the cold weather towards my car. I didn't want the others hearing curse every word I could think of in the book now with all the stupidity I have to deal with. Kat's right. I really need to find another type of man to attract.

Fixer uppers are a pain in the ass. A very big personal one to mine.

Trust me, Klaus was no picnic to get along with. Everyone has their own pros and cons about themselves. Let me use Klaus as an example. Pros: protective, charming, good parent, pays attention to detail, creative, and can be very sweet when he wants to. The cons though are pretty long though too. Cons: Klaus can be sometimes sadistic when it comes to people who cross him; paranoid was another one, impulsive definitely, because Clara got it from him, emotional, quick-tempered, volatile, manipulative, jealous, obsessive and competitive. What did I tell you? Do you see where this is going?

Look, I knew firsthand what I was dealing with, but I was okay with it. If you care about someone deep enough, you'll accept who they are with the good and bad. We cared about each other and we still do. I just hope dearly that Rose could return the same favor and make him happy.

Now, Damon? Oh, you don't want me to rant about his ass now because I really don't have anything good to say. My feathers being ruffled up doesn't even fit how pissed and annoyed I am with men. Yeah, it's true! Klaus and I sometimes butted heads. Doesn't everybody do that now and then?

I could name you a whole list of his personality traits. It's endless! He's arrogant, sarcastic, the biggest smartass I ever met, devious, self-destructive, impulsive (that's the new word of the day!), quick-tempered, overconfident, dangerous, and hot as – WTF! Can we just shut up on how hot I think he is? AHH! Here I go again!

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

"Are you going to say something or what?" Damon asked me with his usual tone making my train of thought disappear.

"Oh, I have something to say. And it's this: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND?" I lashed out. It's not my fault he drives me this crazy. Seriously, when was the last guy that ever did? Hardly ever.

"What did I do now? Moreover, what's with the face? You looked like someone killed a panda bear, " He asked all nonchalant as if nothing happened. That did it!

"You're the reason I'm blowing up a casket here!" Damn it! Will he just ever stop aggravating me?

"Actually, Blondie, the word is 'gasket.' Not 'casket." He corrected.

THAT'S IT!

"WHATEVER YOU OVERGROWN, SMARTELLIC JACKASS!" I yelled in his face with almost steam coming out of my ears! I huffed out as the cold air misted out of my mouth. Damon looked at me as if I grew another head on my shoulders. I'm not that terrifying. Sheesh.

That finally made Damon shut up, at least. I can finally talk now. Okay, focus Caroline.

Nevertheless, first, I need a little something to make sure he knew I wasn't joking. Therefore, I did what any normal woman would do. Without warning, I slapped the backside of his head with my hand. The resounding smack showed how much he ended up groaning in pain, but I didn't care. He needed it, and what I am going to say to him is going to have to stay in that thick skull of his. Listen people, that is a damn thick skull. I don't know where he gets it. Frankly, I don't even want to know. Ugh!

"Now, that you finally shut up, I can finally speak getting my point across. But, what you did was pretty reckless. You just don't do that shit. Come on, Damon! I'd like to think you had better sense than that."

Recovering from the hit, he finally spoke, "Maybe if you would like to remind of what I had done wrong, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation. Obviously…"

"Keep going, Damon. I just want you to get on my damn nerves. Keep on going, and I'll do just more than hit you in the head. I'll hit you where it hurts. Right. In. Your. Special. Place." Okay, maybe I went a little too overboard, but he don't need to know that.

Gaining back his dignity (or at least trying to), he leaned against the side of my car with his arms crossed in front of his chest with his cool pose he always pulled perfectly. Yup, he can pull it off. But, him being perfectly? You can kiss my ass. Oh, I really got to stop cussing, but today was not a good day. Heck, with this! "I'm listening."

Oh, now he wants to listen. Cute. No, not really. I was just being sarcastic. Sighing heavily, I pondered on how I was supposed to say this. I guess I'm just going to have to go honest with this one. There was no other way I could go easy on him. Not that I really want to go easy on him now with his aggravating image.

Incredibly ho- DON'T EVEN SAY IT!

"Look. Remember when I told you about those boundary lines you can't cross," I started to talk fully knowing there was no other way to say this. "What you did earlier was crossing a line. A huge one if I might add."

"I don't see exactly what I did wrong."

He didn't understand. What am I talking to? A rock? "You don't come in between Klaus and personal affairs, Damon. That's what you did. He likes to handle his own business."

"What the hell did I do? I don't see why he has to act like that. I was only - "

"Damon, just shut up for a minute. Just shut up. You talk too damn much." I told him aggravated. He was really pushing me to new limits. Eventually, probably sooner, he's going to blow up some fuse inside of me and I am so not going to like it. "The reason you were in a bad fix was because there are certain things you don't do to Klaus. One of those things is getting in the middle of his affairs. In your situation, you got in between him and Clara. You were trying to do **his** job. It's his and my job to discipline Clara. Not yours."

Personally, I hoped he understood what was going on now. He had to because it was better to be safe than sorry. You just don't go against Klaus all blazing glory. I'm surprised he hadn't gone ballistic with me. Trust me, you don't cross Klaus. Not ever. He's a good man. Klaus never gives himself enough credit for what he does. He always made sure our daughter and me were safe. He always provided, and he always kept in contact and made up for the limited time he had. Nik was a scarred man, but he was always worth fighting for. I knew that later on during the time I got to know him.

"Is he always that personal?" Damon asked.

"Let me put it to you like this. Klaus has this developed complex about him. He tends to think he's the alpha male on everything." I answered his question.

"From what I can tell by what you just said, I just think he's a dick," he stated.

"Oh, and you aren't? Damon, just listen to me for once. If you listened more instead of you just yakking all the time, you wouldn't be in so much crap all the time," I chastised him. His body stiffened at the truth. I know I went a little personal on that, but it wasn't my fault he acts so impulsively sometimes. That's what got him into the situation he was in, duh! I didn't have any regrets.

Okay, maybe there was a little bit of regret somewhere. But, he drives me crazy so much! My patience can only be stretched so far. I was almost to the end of my rope here. What was I supposed to do?

"Explain it to me more." Damon demanded with his steely blue eyes on me. His face set tight turning his mouth into a firm line.

I took a deep breath and casually took a place next to him against the side of my car. I rubbed my hands together quickly trying to get more warmth. It's too cold. "When it comes to anything that his, he wants to take care of it on his own. When it comes to Clara, she falls under that category. He's very protective of her. I swear, he's like an overprotective wolf when it comes to her. He's tends to takes things personally. But, don't worry about Klaus. That's just the way he's been all his life. It's not you. The life he had just wasn't easy. It doesn't excuse his behavior, but it'll help you understand more about him in the end. I hoped that explained the situation better for you."

For once, it seems he was actually listening to me for a change. Thank God. Damon decided to go towards the house with me following him. I was still concerned for him. I just didn't want any blood spilt on my good floors. What? I'm sentimental and protective of my stuff. I'm not in denial. "Are you really sure you want to do this?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm not going to let him knock me off my game. Besides, I like challenges. Also, usually everyone loves me. If I can charm you, Blondie, I'm sure I can win them over. It'll be a piece of a cake." He gallantly gave me a smirk and started to walk back inside.

"Since when was I ever charmed by you?!" I yelled at him heading back inside throwing my boot at the back of his head, but I missed which made the boot hit the outside wall.

"Missed me!"

I am so going revenge on his ass.

**{Wide Awake}**

**Happy New Years, everyone! Goodbye, 2012! Hello, 2013! God bless all of you! Thank you so much for the support! **


	13. Honesty

**A/n: Thank you for all of the support for this story! Over 6000 hits! I appreciate all of the support. I still can't believe it's 2013. It's been one heck of a year. Let's get started with a bang! In a good way, I mean. **

**The couples so far are Daroline, Klaroline, Kalijah, and here is a new couple, Klose or Raus. I think this is the first Rose/Klaus couple ever put into a story. When I wrote about WA in the beginning, I didn't know who would fit that role. I didn't want to use the bitchy fiancée stereotype. It's used way too often to me. Therefore, I picked one of the other characters to me that I liked that seemed to fit the bill the most: Rose. I've seen the actress play other roles before like in Bela in Supernatural so I did my magic. Lol. When it comes to Daroline and Klaroline, I admit, even I am having a hard time picking which couple is better. We still have a little while before more characters from Damon's past show up. Caroline and Damon are more…I'm not going to spoil it. ;)**

**Chapter Main Theme: Stutter by Maroon 5**

**I would like to thank those who reviewed, favorited, and alerted to my story: DarolineWritingGoddess, linalove, XDarkParadiseX, VampCaroline, TeamStefanBitches, DarolineKlaroline, Guest, Cara Salvatore, DamonLover86, Babi, AnnaBelle89, and xostelenaox!**

**Special dedication to Babi for reviewing! She's a very good writer in the fandom. If there are any Delena fans reading this, she has a bunch of Delena fics for you to check out. I do admit, I even have Delena stories in my list of favorite stories, which is very rare for me because I am not really into the couple. Now, if any of y'll reading this are full-time Klaroline fans, you would definitely enjoy her Klaroline story called, Unlikely Match. That's though if you like dramatic romance. Still, read Unlikely Match. I think that's the title. Anyway, just read it! It definitely deserves more reviews and credit! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries! I wish! I am so psyched about the new episode of TVD coming on this week. **

Chapter 13:

Damon walked back into the house with pride. He wasn't going to let some British dick ruin his day. He was better than that. He was Damon…Damon…well, he's just Damon! He'll have to remember his last name sooner or later. Being realistic, he was leaning towards the latter.

The cravings of hard liquor built up in his throat as he made it inside with a very unpleased Caroline hot on his trail. Not saying that Caroline wasn't hot. He would definitely admit it aloud, but he wouldn't say what was more to that. He was either too prideful or proud to admit it. He couldn't figure it out. Caroline Forbes had much more to herself than physical looks. However, he couldn't deny the beauty she possessed. That was just a bonus to the person that made Caroline who she was.

"DAMON!"

Speaking of Caroline…

"When I'm finished with you, I'm so going to kick your ass back to Timbuktu!" She came in with her dark boot in her hand aimed liked a weapon her eyes caught in a blue blaze. Oh, crap. He was so screwed.

"Take it easy, Care. We already had enough drama earlier. Don't need any blood spilled. God knows we don't need you complaining now," Katherine consoled her trying to calm her best friend down.

Damon made a mental note. Never piss off an already frustrated and pissed off blonde. Especially, since said blonde has the ability to kick your ass and make your life a living hell. He knew what that meant too and not in a good way either.

Caroline sent one last glare to him before she put back on her boot. Damon glanced down at her feet noting about the heel. Seriously, how do women actually walk in these? Is it some sort of superpower? With Caroline, who knows? He already knew she was crazy to some extent even though he would say the title of crazy fitted him better among of other traits that really didn't help his reputation.

"Kat, keep an eye on things for me real quick. I'm going to change my shoes into something comfortable. These heels are killing me." She walked away without leaving any more responses to come her way. He watched her as she walked off down the hallway entering her bedroom closing the door behind her.

"It could have gotten worse, she could've yelled at you more for something else," Kat commented to Damon.

As if on cue, Caroline's bedroom opened again with her head only popping out. "AND KAT, MAKE SURE DAMON STAYS AWAY FROM THE DRINKS! YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT TOO!" Then the slam of her door could be heard again.

Son of a bitch.

"You want a Coke?" She offered to him holding a cold can of it in her hand.

He nodded to her. "Thanks."

Katherine passed the cold can of coke to him, and offered him a pat on the shoulder. "Don't let her get you down. She reacts sometimes. She'll get used to you in no time. Look how she put up with me all these years. I'm not usually easy to handle anyway by any means. I'm a special breed of character."

She couldn't have said it any simpler than that. A special breed of character, indeed. She definitely had…assets. What? Damon's just being a typical male. Doesn't hurt to check things out. He's always had a thing for blondes and brunettes. Where it came down to though, was still a question he still hadn't had the answer too yet.

"I'll have the same," Alaric said to his niece. Damon never admitted it, but maybe he was glad to have company that was glad to be around him somewhat. Hence the somewhat part. The pretty brunette handed him another cold coke from Caroline's refrigerator.

"I'll leave you two to your conversation. I'm not into the bromance thing. Not my style." She waved off making her way to the living room situating herself down on the couch next to Elijah who held Clara in his arms. Watching them, Elijah didn't seem to mind her company, which kind of surprised him a bit, but he didn't let it show. He also saw Alaric roll his eyes watching his niece.

"She's something…" Damon tried to start conversation.

"Yup. That's my niece for you. But, this isn't about her."

He might as well be honest. Damn, this was going to leave a bad taste in his mouth. "I screwed up."

"Yeah. Yeah, you did," Alaric agreed. Way to go Captain Obvious. What does he need now? A metal?

"Why so glum?" a British voice asked casually as his voice carried to Damon and Alaric's ears. It took all Damon had not to lose his composure and embarrass himself. He let it happen once. Twice was definitely not, what he had in mind for to happen.

Oh, great. Just what he needed. He took another swig of his coke before he spoke again. "Klaus, I presume?"

"In the flesh," he answered as he gave off a little smirk.

"Thanks for watching out for him, mate," he referred to Alaric. "We wouldn't want another situation on our hands, do we?"

Damon was really getting tired of this dick. It made him wonder how this man was even related to Clara as sweet as she was. How Caroline was even attracted to him? Not that he cared to know. Aggravated, although not to Caroline's level, came getting close to that high. He stood up to his full height and faced Klaus eye to eye with his body bristled. Klaus just kept his signature poker face on not showing any signs of irritation just making it crawl under Damon's skin even further.

"Any reason you stopped by to say hi?" Damon's irritation edged with a dangerous tone.

"Making sure you know where you stand and not to interfere. I'm sure Caroline already told you about it, hmm? Just I thought to remind you not to do anything you'd regret. "Klaus replied to him calmly unlike Damon who was teetering off the edge a bit.

Damon let out a mock of laughter, "Ha! Thanks for the free advice. I don't suppose I can talk you into a postponement on the animosity between us. We can just forget all of this happened."

Klaus looked at Damon as if he was insane and scoffed. "You're kidding. He is kidding, right?"

"No, not really," Alaric answered Klaus covering Damon's back.

"I mean, come on. What's one little spat between us is going to ruin the whole grand scheme of things?" Damon saw the change in Klaus's face as it got darker letting him know that he was treading a very thin line.

"Let me clear. I have my own agenda I have to take care of. You have your own...whatever is the situation is that you're currently in," he said to what was almost Damon could tell as sneering or so he thought, "Now, one of the **most **important parts of my agenda is Clara. She is my daughter, and I intend as I always do to make sure **I** meet all of her needs. That also encompasses with raising her and discipline. However, she does not give me any trouble; sometimes she needs a little guidance now and then. Moreover, as her father, it's** my** job to do that. So if you want things to run smoothly as you say to me that you want, don't screw it up." Klaus left the two to their own devices to join the rest of his family as they conversed in indistinct voices.

Alaric and Damon resumed their conversation from earlier fully knowing what Damon was going to do. Isn't that nice to know? "Well, that was fun." Damon said his voice deep in sarcasm.

"You're going to screw it up, aren't you?"

"If you knew me better, you would know the answer," he vaguely replied.

"You shouldn't do this, Damon. Even after knowing for a little while, I would come to imagine for you to do this that it's going to come to bite you in the ass," Alaric warned him, but his warning fell onto deaf ears.

"But, when he leaves though, it's not going to matter. He can't keep his eyes on everything in sight. Problem solved." It shouldn't be this hard. Why was Ric giving him such a hard time?

"But, she's his daughter. You really ought to think before you start a quarrel with Klaus. He's not someone you want to mess with, especially when it comes to his family. There's not going to be a Caroline Forbes to save you every time you get into a situation. She's going to help what's important to her first: her family. And who do you think that is?" he explained to Damon hoping it'll sink in sometime at this point if not sooner would be better.

"Look, text me if you need help with something," Alaric handed him a business card.

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

"You're gonna have to because I know this isn't going to be the last we see each other."

**{Wide Awake}**

Men! Why of all things God had to create, he had to create men? I'm probably going to have to ask him that when it comes down to it. My frustration and aggravation levels were reaching an all-time, record-blowing high right about now. I'll start a new resolution! I'll stay single the rest of my life! That's it!

Wait a minute?

Never mind. That wouldn't work very well.

"Why do you always have to prove you're the alpha male?" I asked him fed up with the Battle for Dominance that seemed to take place between Klaus and Damon. Damn. After that talk with Damon out on the porch, I thought I was done with this. No. Now, I'm at Round 2 with no one other than Klaus. Yippee for me!

He always had a way of making an entrance and ways of making a scene. You see, he can go either way when it comes to getting under your skin or so forth. On one end, he's has that signature poker face on as his first move. But, then when that smirk he has creeps its way in, that's when it really starts to aggravate you and just want to whack that look off his face just because it's there. It's that look where he knows you're getting that way there, and there was nothing you can do about it. I knew it all too well knowing him as long as I have.

Then there's the other and rather volatile and scary end of the spectrum. What Damon saw earlier wasn't even close to what Klaus could have done. Nevertheless, Klaus was intelligent. He's not going to let his emotions run away with him unless unforeseen circumstances come his way. You'd have to know certain buttons and issues Klaus has before he would blow up like a volcano.

Trust me, I watched the almost heated exchange between them took place, and Klaus knew that I knew about because he saw me, but didn't give my presence away. It's juvenile, but what can you do? Men will always be men, though it throws a huge wrench into what I'm trying to plan. Is it so hard just to plan a decent Christmas with family and friends?

"I don't have to prove anything, love. I am the alpha male." See what I meant when he and I butted heads. This was definitely a prime example.

"Come on. You know I'm right on the situation," he argued his side.

"There is no right or wrong side in this. He just jumped into a situation he had no knowledge of. Damon's in a tight spot right now, Klaus. I already explained that to you already and I'm not explaining it again. He didn't know what he was getting into. Besides, your family is the only people he's interacted with besides Katherine." I tried to reason with him. Sometimes, trying to reason with him was more compelling than it looked like. You would have to have plenty of energy if you wanted to make a legitimate argument with him. He could keep going on your own expense. That's just one of those things makes Klaus himself.

"I still don't know why you just didn't do the logical thing and just sent him to the hospital," he said.

I didn't need him to tell me what to do. I make my own decisions. Besides, I really couldn't give him a good reason, anyway. "Since when does the word 'logic', ever fit into the equation of either you or me, Klaus? Logic does not suit us. We're practically illogical in the full sense of the word."

"You're avoiding the question, Caroline. Don't think I have not known you long enough," he stated with his usual poker face on.

"I'm not avoiding anything," I said stubbornly as I looked out to the front pretending to focus on the snow.

Klaus walked closer to me lessening the space between us. I gulped hard to myself hoping to find my escape soon enough. I searched for an excuse, anything for me to get away from him. I didn't need this. I always never liked how people can easily read me sometimes, but I **loathed** how Klaus can easily read me. Of course, he was always a prodigy of masking his emotions where I usually shined them like a bright light.

Full of light, my ass. If I am so 'full of light' like he says, then why do I feel so utterly tired, cynical, and crappy? Explain that one to me.

"Yes, you are. You know when I'm right, love. No use in denying."

"Why can't you just take a hint? I'm fine. Quit changing the subject. It's not about me. It's about Damon," I insisted. Maybe this will get him off my case.

"Oh, so what do you expect me to do? Give him a secret brotherhood handshake?" he exasperated.

"All you need to do is give him a chance. That's all you need to do. I'm not going to bother you about it anymore."

I took strides to go back inside when Klaus grasped my arm. His eyes bore into mine, and I didn't move. He said, "Only for you, Caroline. But, if he messes up, it's on his head."

**{Wide Awake}**

The smell of lemons soap and slight perfume filled the air around in the kitchen. Rose stood at the sink as she washed the dishes with Caroline as she dried them with both making an effort. Both with rolled up sleeves, they both came from a working-class family background, but they didn't know that about the other person. Surprisingly, they had some things in common. Alternatively, that was rather what Rose hoped to have with Caroline. Rose knew how to handle herself. The older woman always had a good head on her shoulders. She wasn't sure about how she was going to start the conversation with the mother of her future husband's child.

She had nothing against Caroline and she hoped that the blonde-haired woman caught on to that. Rose might as well start. "You really made an excellent dinner, Caroline. I'm certain everyone was pleased even though they can be very…different in showing with gratitude."

Caroline agreed. "You got that right, but when you deal with their family long enough you tend to pick up their tendencies. They've always been from what you said: different."

The silence was creeping back up again, and Rose needed to keep the conversation going. There was no use trying to avoid the inevitable.

"He told you about the engagement, didn't he?" she asked.

Caroline reluctantly answered. "Yeah, why?"

"I want to know how you're taking this. I'm sure it's not news you hear every day." Rose didn't speak out about the rest of it. She was sure that the situation was already complex as it was. Making it more difficult was the last thing anyone needed.

"No one really asked me to be honest. I'd be lying if I just said 'it's no big deal,'" she explained.

"I know we've only met once, but there's anything you need to say, say it. I don't mind."

"I don't really know. Are you seriously going along with this?"

"As far as I can tell from you, I don't think you can keep it in longer."

She observed Caroline as her face tensed up internally debating if she should really let things out. At least, that's what Rose surmised up from what it looked like to her eyes. The younger blonde-haired woman never looked bitchy, as Rose had seen her fair share of in her lifetime. Caroline seemed to be the total opposite. Rose saw how Caroline made sure everybody was happy, but she didn't let anyone step on her like a doormat. Caroline released a heavy sigh with her eyes closed and ran her hands through her curly blonde hair.

"He threw me a wicked curveball. I never saw it coming. I mean, I kinda knew it was bound to happen maybe, but I never thought it would happen so…sudden."

"I know the feeling all too well." She told Caroline.

"Really?" Caroline questioned her.

"The engagement between me and Klaus is not a personal one. As cliché as it sounds, I'd hate to tell you rather. It's rather embarrassing with the circumstances if you look at it in some ways."

As they finished the dishes, she looked at Rose shocked as the answer finally dawned on her. "It was arranged."

"Not like the way you're thinking. If anything, it's not a fairytale. It isn't like a prison sentence. The engagement is really for business, actually. That's why he was so reluctant to say anything. You know how the affairs in his family are rather messy." That was an understood fact. Back in England, everyone knew who the Mikaelsons were with their hotel business. Especially with reporters and paparazzi lurking about who were trying to get any little piece of gossip they could find. It wasn't really scandalous to a point it would sabotage their prime name.

All of the inner most secrets though of the Mikaelson family stayed within the Mikaelson family. They've always kept everything under lock and key. Like every family, everyone had his or her own drama and their part in it all. Kol was always Britain's Favorite Playboy of the Year. Rebekah had her bitchy moments here and there, but who's not a woman with a bit of drama in her life? Klaus was infamous for his lethal temper if messed with. Elijah always seemed to keep things under wraps too well, but he wasn't afraid to be cold if he had to.

"Care to clarify what business we're talking about here? I'm thinking there's more to it than you're letting on. I may be a bad liar, but I'm not stupid. What else is going on?" Caroline asked if not just being curious. Rose never really explained her personal life, but since Clara was a major part of Klaus's life, she might as well let the cat out of the bag. There was no harm in it, but she was afraid of how Caroline was going to react. She couldn't measure the remnants of feelings she had for Klaus.

That's if Caroline had feelings left for him. Rose didn't know nor did she need to.

"Caroline, I'm not one to lie. But, I'm afraid if you hear the truth, you may not like it," Rose warned. The last thing she wanted was guilt on her conscience.

"I told people this before so I'm going to tell you too. I'm not a little girl anymore. I haven't been like that for years. Just tell me, please. You can be honest with me."

But, was she ready to know something like this? That question floated in Rose's mind for a while now. She didn't want any distrust within her family, and she was willing to compromise between them to make sure everything would run smoothly. Rose breathed in slowly and spoke.

"Yes, it was primarily a business arrangement and it still is. My family owns a small, but well-preserved culinary business. Both of us are well off, so there's nothing really to worry about it financially. My father and Mikael thought it would be good to merge business-wise. We would give well-made culinary cuisines for their hotels, because they have a restaurant at the hotel too as a partner. They recently sold one of their hotels since they wanted to downsize. The previous employees were guaranteed that they'd keep their job, but would be switched to a different place," Rose started to explain to her.

It took a minute before Caroline could process all the information coming at her all at once. "Can you tell me more about the business? I really don't understand until I can get a full picture here."

"Okay. The Mikaelson family is like the Hiltons, but smaller and European. They have at least three hotels around the countries in Europe. They have one in London, Paris, and some other country I don't remember. My family owns a small catering or culinary (not sure which word is best for this) business known for its homemade, but qualified food. To merge, would be a good business move. But, since the Mikaelson family want to downsize on their business they have to take care of several things. They made sure the previous employees would keep their jobs, but switched over to a new place of work. The hotel properties they wanted to sell were sold. I hope that explains their business better.

"But, Mikael wanted something else thrown into it to make the deal count. You know how Mikael is towards Klaus. Klaus and I were introduced to each other and soon enough, here we are now. Therefore, with their business merging, Klaus would stay inside with the inheritance having a legitimate marriage to back up on. But, he wouldn't be truly happy." She finally finished explaining to Caroline.

There was a part of Rose that wanted to be selfish and not say anything, but she wasn't that kind of that person. She couldn't do it.

"Happy?" Caroline asked still confused.

Rose was so close. She was so close to spilling. She was breaking. "You. He still cares about you, Caroline."

"That's not a bad thing, isn't it? I mean it's mutual. I care about him like every other human being. It's not that complicated -" Caroline rambled on, but Rose had to stop her yet again.

"I don't mean it like that. He's still in love with you. That's what I meant."

**{Wide Awake}**

**Duh! Duh! Duh! **

**So the plot thickens?**


	14. Feelings, Doubts, and a Gift

**A/n: I love all of the support I'm getting. To be honest, I love triangle right now. It's getting good. Which one is better to you: Klaroline or Daroline? Me, I'm not so sure. Both of them are very addicting. I was never a conventional girl as some of the fans are in TVD. I laughed my head off watching the interrogation Rebekah did. If only she compelled Caroline confessing her feelings to Klaus! That would have been so epic! **

**Then the part where she called Elena a trollop was funny too! Then when I went to the wikia pages, I found a link to this humor video someone posted on YouTube. You'd have to see it for yourself. Hilarious!**

**SHE'S A TRAMPIRE! (REACTION TO TVD 4X10) HUMOR**

** : / / www . youtube watch?v = N6h4w6MMGxA**

**Thank those who reviewed: nincaha23, Babi, Sci-fi Christian, klarolineluvr, linalove, VampCaroline, Daroline, thisheartbeatsforyou, Guest, xostelenaxo, DarolineKlaroline, and DarolineWritingGoddess.**

**Chapter Main Theme: Use Somebody by Laura Jensen**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries!**

Chapter 14: Feelings, Doubts, and a Gift

It couldn't be. There was no way. No, freaking way.

I honestly don't know what to say to that.

"Is there any way you could be wrong about that?" I asked Rose. It's one thing after another. Just when my life is back together, BOOM! This happens! And just when Klaus and I were comfortable with the relationship. He kept his distance and I kept mine. That's how it was: comfortable. I mean on my end it was. I didn't want a relationship with anyone now, let alone my ex. Even though, he was the father of my child. The worse thing about it is that I can't lash out because he hadn't done anything wrong making me feel more guilty and confused. And this thing with – Don't Even Start!

"Would I lie? There's no satisfaction for me. Besides, I have no heart to want ill will to anyone. I can't deny who he feels for," she said, "Even if I feel for him too."

So he's not the only one with it one-sided? Wait a minute. I have to shut up now. "You love him too?"

Rose chucked to herself. "Not to that extent, but I do care for him. With Klaus, it's up to him where his heart lies. I have nothing against him if he ever changes his decision. You're the mother of his child. Who am I to compete with that? I know what it's like to have someone new step in as your father's wife. It can be very frustrating. That's why I wanted Klaus to come here for the holiday. To make sure we are on the same page. No matter what happens, I will go along with his decision."

No. I can't do this. I don't want to be caught up in some stupid love triangle you see in soap operas. I just want a simple life I have with my daughter. I didn't need a relationship. Even though, Klaus was rather the better one of the ones I had experienced with. Thank God, no one could hear about this conversation.

I leaned against the counter giving myself support using my hands to hold on. It was the only way I could stand still. An overwhelming guilt that I had buried deep down kept clawing its way through my heart. I was almost losing my grip with my reality. No, Caroline. Don't think about it. Forget it. Bury it. Bury it.

"Caroline, are you okay?"

Does everyone have to ask me that? Seriously! Before I was going to snap, I calmed myself taking a deep breath while I closed my eyes for a second. I wasn't going to snap at someone who was going out of their way to be honest with me. I had to give her the same decent courtesy.

"I'll be honest. I wished you just didn't say anything." I don't know why I didn't want to know the extent of what Klaus feels. Maybe I've been so content with the state of our relationship; I didn't have to think about it. It brought me to a place where I didn't want to tread. Who wants to? I knew I didn't. I was happy just being with Clara. I had Katherine. Hell, I even had Rowdy. And he's a dog!

The point is that I'm happy. I don't need some unpredictable curveball throw at my face. I've been so careful about who I get attached to. I haven't dated in a while besides one-night stands here and there. (A woman has her needs.) I don't want to be attached to a level like the one I was in with Klaus. I don't blame him for what happened. If anything, it was my fault. It's still my fault.

"I didn't want any misunderstandings between us. I didn't want you think badly of me."

Great, more guilt started to rip through me. Damn, my good heart! Why can't I be heartless? It'd be so much easier. I wish I could just be a heartless bitch, but I can't. The good part of me wouldn't let me act such a way toward her. I put a hand on her tense shoulder trying to ease her apprehension. "You don't have to do me any favors. I'm not going to try to play the villain. Don't worry about me. I'm not going to interfere and make hearts break."

"Why are you saying this?"

I hesitated trying to find the right words to put what I had to say. "Let's just say that I've seen too many relationships come apart with those kinds of things. It's not pretty to see."

I may have been vague, but I was speaking the truth. I only knew the truth. No one knew. Well, except Katherine. But, no one else did: not my family, friends, Klaus, and especially not Damon.

I needed to change the mood. "We better get to the living room. Clara's been griping for a while to open presents."

"She is a lovely girl," Rose commented truthfully, as she watched the girl interact with the people in the living room.

"Of course, she is. She's my baby girl." I said loud and proud.

**{Wide Awake}**

Holy Crap! Biggest load of presents I have ever seen in my life! Well, Clara got the majority of it. Not that, I didn't mind. I love to see my daughter happy. I spoil her as much as the next mother does it.

Clara had a while pile of gifts waiting for her. Rebekah bought her brand new brand new ribbons and hair stuff for when she's older. My baby girl always had an obsession for ribbons. Okay, wait a minute. Obsession was the wrong way to put it. I should have said fixation for it. She always loved it when I put her hair up in her bows. I do love to girly-up my daughter when a chance comes up.

Elijah was a lot simpler when it came to getting gifts. He gave her a gift card. To what or where, I really don't know. I think he just wanted me to get whatever she needed for later. He's that giving and loyal of an uncle to his niece. He helps his family, but it still rather surprises me that I'm even considered as family even though I am not in an official relationship with his younger brother. Old habits die hard.

Now, as always Kol had his presence known somewhere one or another. He couldn't come for whatever reason I don't know about. I'm not that sad that he couldn't come. Three of the Mikaelsons were enough to deal with as it was. He sent over an aluminum bat for Clara to scare off the boys that may have an "evil intention." Surprisingly, this was one of the few times that Klaus actually approved of Kol's gifts.

As Clara's father, he always lived up to his reputation as to spoil her. I'm just glad the spoiled part doesn't get to her head. Oh, trust me. Clara had her days just like every other four-year old when she doesn't want to do anything she's told. Klaus wanted to introduce her something new. Therefore, he brought her a collection of Breyer horses wrapped in colorful paper topped off with a big bow on top. Clara loved her new gift. Klaus was never the one to show right off the bat how he felt, but I knew he felt proud of her with that fatherly pride.

What really threw me off was that Rose had even got her a gift too. Rose had done some traveling a bit, and she got Clara an authentic snow globe from Paris. Paris of all places. The reaction I never thought I would see was a chain reaction. The only word that came to my mind was "enthralled." Clara was unpredictable about what she would do; then I was shocked to see that she jumped up and gave Rose a huge hug the first chance she got. I could see Rose was grateful to have my daughter take to the new woman in her father's life more easily than either of us had anticipated.

Out of the Mikaelson group, and now we're heading to the other part of our gathering: Kat. Well, Alaric didn't get Clara anything, but I never expected him to. He didn't even meet Clara until today. I'm still glad though, he's been here with Damon helping him out though Damon wouldn't admit. Sheesh, the men I surround myself with. Unbelievable.

Back to the subject at hand, Kat's gifts always had a meaning behind them. I knew this from all the time she had given Clara things before throughout the years. The gift she had gotten was meant for both of us. She bought a scrapbook kit for me to use for Clara's memories and of her growing up. I think it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, but Katherine always had a look that was sort of…longing I think? I don't know. She's hard to read even after knowing her for so long.

The best gifts I saved for last. They're from…well…let's just say I'm waiting until everyone left.

Now, everyone else did exchange gifts. I sat with Damon so it would not be so awkward. Alaric helped too. Katherine still flirted with Elijah as usual. Klaus…erm…he's acting like how he usually is. And Rebekah still doted on her niece. We're getting along in some weird way, but I didn't comment about it or question it. it was difficult enough to deal with all the mishaps.

Here's a list of stuff I got for my "family". I know it's kind of strange, but they make my life pretty interesting.

Kat – Big Sexy Hair Product Kit.  
Reason: She's a beautician for her career. She always loved doing things with her hair making it looks fabulous. Well, according to her. She always tries to get the professional kind you see in salons. So, I did her a favor. I found a good deal, and I got it for her. Let's just say she was impressed.

Klaus – Art stuff  
Reason: Okay, after learning and knowing for almost five years, you tend to notice a few things. Secretly, I got him some more art supplies. Yes, I know. My ex was and still is an artist. Trust me, it was something he showed me when we were getting to know each other. Another story for another time.

Elijah – A couple of nice of dress shirts and dress jackets from Men's Warehouse.  
Reason: Have you ever tried to shop for a gift for a man like him? It's like solving a hard mystery. I read had a hard time figuring it out. I got lucky, I guess. I got him a new sketchbook and some colors because he's very artistic. Unfortunately, Clara hasn't inherited that talent for the time being. Who knows if she will get like that when she's older?

Rebekah – Oscar de la Renta Women's Coastal Retreat Cami Short Set.  
Reason: Coming from a family loaded with money, she is going to be attracted to more expensive things, which I'm glad it doesn't make her stuck up. However, she can be a bitch when she wanted to be. What woman does not like anything she can use for her? I knew a little bit about the brand, but not really. So, I bought her a new robe. I have no comment further after that.

Kol – Two Gag Gifts  
Reason: I'll be honest with this one. I'm wondering if it would have been simpler if I had just gotten him a fruitcake because of the one time he asked me for a lap dance. I had fun looking this up. I went to search engine looking up "funny gag gifts for men." I had to make sure I didn't get too overboard. Cause trust me, there was a lot of sexual crap I didn't even I had to see. I'm not even going to go toward that direction. But, I managed to snag two gifts for him. one of them was a solid black coffee mug, but the handle of the mug was the shape of a gun. But, the really funny one was the t-shirt I bought for him. It said, "I'm Not Fluent In Idiot, So Please Speak Slowly and Clearly." I laughed my ass off ordering it.

Clara – Too much to list. I thought I already explained it. Maybe. Maybe not.

Damon – Like I said before, I'm saving the best for last. Hehehe….

I got some presents too, but I wasn't worried about that. Damon had been such a good sport, which still surprised me because he's known for his messes.

It had been later in the evening getting late. Klaus and his family were making their way to leave. Damon was happy about it, I would bet. If he was, he didn't show it. Well, I guess he won't show it until the Mikaelsons leave. Damn. What is up with men and their emotions? Am I missing something?

A sharp cry pierced through the living as Clara ran up to them. "NO! I DON'T WANNA YOU TO GO!"

I watched with steady eyes contemplating if I should go over to Clara. Unexpectedly, Rose stepped up to the plate trying to appease to my daughter. For Clara to take on to Rose so quickly is a bit of a surprise, but then it isn't because Clara had always been a friendly child.

"Clara, it's all right. We're not leaving you just yet," Rose said to the girl lowering herself to her height.

"But, I hardly see you! I wanna you to stay here! I wanna my family!" she cried out to her with clear tears streaming down her face. Clara hugged Rose tight clinging to the woman. I wanted to go there so bad to comfort her. Kat did too. The only thing that was stopping her was Alaric holding a solid hand on her shoulder.

Damon was almost about to break loose. But, I had to hold his hand as he almost made a step toward them.

"No, Damon," I whispered quietly so no one could hear me, but him.

"I have to do something, Caroline. I can't just…" he didn't even finish sentence.

"Trust me, Damon. Both of them need the closure."

Clara had attached herself to Rose wrapping her arms around her neck holding her tight. Rose had no choice, but to envelop her into her embrace. All of us watched the two as necessary peace came between them. This was good. It's a good start. It was then Klaus decided to step in, and Rose passed Clara to him. Clara took hold to her father immediately snuggling closer to him. "If you don't mind, love, we're staying at a hotel for a few more days. I can take her off your hands tomorrow if you want."

I nodded to him. "Just give her to me when you're done. She's gonna want to say bye to all of you."

Clara looked up to her father's same blue-grayed colored eyes. "You really have to leave?"

Klaus nodded solemnly. "Yes. But, I'll be here first thing in the morning. I promise you."

"Cross your heart." She did the motion many times before with her father.

"Cross my heart." He did the same motion. He kissed her forehead and handed his daughter to her Aunt Bekah.

"What am I going to do with you?" Rebekah asked rhetorically to her niece.

Clara had her hopes up. "You can always stay here without my mother knowing."

Rebekah smiled at her niece's idea. There was that bit coming from her brother showing up. "As much as I want to go along with that idea, I don't think your mother will take very kindly to that. But, we'll get to spend some time together when we come back. Okay?"

"Okay." Rebekah had to give it to her. The girl had tried.

Elijah tended to her next. "You be a good girl now, you hear. You're still my favorite niece so don't fret."

Clara rolled her eyes at her uncle.

"Uncle 'Lijah, I'm your only niece. But, I'll tell you a secret," she leaned into her uncle's ear and whispered, "you're still my favorite uncle."

Klaus couldn't be any more proud of his daughter. "Well, my little love, we wouldn't you saying that around Finn."

"Finn?" Rebekah questioned incredulously. "Ha! It's Kol you're going to have to worry about."

I couldn't help, but laugh to myself. This was how my daughter's family acted normally. I've been used to it for a while, but it was nice to sit back and watch how even with all the banter and some of the insults, they're still a family. I will agree that they fit the dysfunctional kind very well down to the letter.

Kat came walking – no; she was strutting to Elijah to get to say bye to her goddaughter.

"I'd like to have my niece if you don't mind," she said in a flirty fashion adding more to Rebekah's annoyance she has for Katherine. Well, of course Rebekah is going to think anyone who is coming onto her brothers is annoying. I'm only mildly annoying to her the last time I checked. Of course, I could be wrong.

"You don't have to be so rude about it," Rebekah spoke infuriated with my best friend. Oh, she hasn't seen Katherine where she can be at her worst. Both she and Rebekah could be competitive and combative with each other. There's too much thick tension between them not to. If they're like that now from just meeting each other once, I couldn't imagine what it would be like if Katherine were ever to become her sister-in-law.

"Oh, and this is from Barbie Klaus," Katherine jeered. "I admit it that I am rude, but what can I say? It's a part of me. Part of my charm if I put it so…eloquently." she said letting her words roll off her tongue.

I sighed to myself. I better be praying for Elijah to keep holding on when it came to Katherine. He's in for one hell of a…well I really don't know how to put it.

Anyway, back to Kat.

"Okay, shorty. Be good for your mama. She's gonna need all the help she can get," Katherine said her byes to her niece.

"Kat!" I exclaimed.

"Well, it's true. Especially with the other stuff going on," Katherine reasoned.

In response to Katherine's light demand, Clara stomped her foot crossing her arms.

"I am not short!"

"Sorry, but according to me you are. You're going to have to deal with it." Katherine finished before turning to me. "I'll see you later, Care-bear. You better tell me all the details."

I ushered everyone out the door, but the last one I said goodbye to was Klaus. My face was blank. I didn't know what to say to him knowing of the extension as to his feelings of for me. Typical. Just my luck.

Therefore, I took the neutral approach. "What time we'll you be here for Clara?"

Klaus's poker face was back on again. "It depends on with you want to work with, love."

"Okay. I'll call you with the details in the morning. Anything else you needed?"

Come on. Hurry it up!

"Yes," he said leaning into my ear closely. I froze with my heart pounding in my chest. I could hear my heartbeat going to so loud in my ears. I could feel his warm breath lingering on my skin for a moment. Why am I reacting like this? I shouldn't be. Then he whispered in an almost irresistible voice (which I am probably hallucinating right now), "Thank you, Caroline. For everything."

I didn't know what else to say, but "You're welcome."

Klaus said goodbye once again to Clara, but he barely made acknowledge of Damon's presence with the smallest of nods. I rolled my eyes again. Like I said before. Typical.

I closed the front door finally happy of the evening to be over and done. Then I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw the text. It didn't take much to figure out who it came from.

_If he ever hurts you and Clara in anyway, you text me back immediately. No exceptions. Also, if you ever need anything send me a text back too, love. – K_

Did I really need that? I don't know. My mind's too boggled up at the moment by the man. Like Damon could hurt me. I'm not that attached to the guy. It's not like he's my boyfriend. Not that he is any time soon.

My back against the door, the temptation to slide down and never get up seemed so right at the moment. Damon came up to me probably noticing the ever-tired look to my face. He put his hands on my shoulders holding me steady. Too tired to fight it off, I just leaned into his chest and hugged him in appreciation. He stood there stiff probably not used to the regard I had come to have of him.

Well, he has some regard, but he's still working on it. Trust me, he's still a while ways before he's good in my book. But, so far…you know what I mean.

"Thank you so much. I'm sorry I had to put you through all of that," I thanked him in gratitude.

I didn't notice the look on his face. If I had noticed it, I would have seen him looking very uncomfortable at the apology.

He awkward patted my back. "Okay, Blondie, it's getting a little awkward."

Now, there's the normal Damon I know! Thank, God. It was getting a little too closer for comfort for me too. Now, back to business.

"Clara!" I called for her coming sprinting towards me.

"Yes, Mama?" she asked.

I had a mischievous glint to my eyes. "There's one more present for you, baby. How about you open it while we watch?"

"Really! Wow. Why now?" she asked curiosity getting to her.

"It was saved best for last," I told her.

Then my baby girl took off towards the Christmas tree. I had managed to sneak more presents earlier in before anyone noticed. I gazed at Damon for a brief second inclining my head towards the living room. I sat on the floor with Damon watching Clara rip through the wrapping paper. I laughed watching the mess my daughter was making. She was always messy from the beginning; even from the time, she was a baby.

"EEEEPPP!" Clara squealed, as she held up her present; it was a stuffed Cat in the Hat plushie. It was about twenty inches in length and it had all the trimmings. "It's so FLUFFY!"

Yup, she was definitely pleased.

"Do you get me this, Mama?"

And here was the icebreaker.

"No, baby. Damon got it for you," I said simply. We had managed to sneak a gift for Clara while all three of us went on our first trip to Wal-Mart with Damon. I talked him into it. Don't ask for further details.

The next reaction really caught me by surprise, but in a good way. Clara went up to Damon holding her brand new plushie in her arms. Her contagious smile was making its way into Damon's heart. "Thank you so much. I love it."

She gave him the biggest hug she could possibly give him. Slowly, his lean arms made their way around my little girl's body. He held her tight hiding his face into her neck from my vision. I didn't blame him.

After a few long moments, he showed his face into view again, leaned in, and gave Clara a chaste kiss to her forehead. "You're welcome, Clara."

"Can I go play now, Mama?" she asked her eyes pleading with the puppy look.

"Go ahead, but be careful." I told her, but she already had scrambled up the stairs.

I turned to Damon. "Now, you're up next."

Damon's face contorted in confusion. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

What is he? Five? "I'm talking about your presents, silly! You may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but even pain in the asses like you need should have presents."

"I…I don't know what to say."

"Just open your presents. There's two actually so just keep in mind." I watched him open the first I had wrapped in silver and dark blue wrapping paper. Inside of the box was things I knew Damon would love to have.

"Damn, Blondie. You really shouldn't have." He commented holding his gift in front of him taking a further look.

"I figured you can use a new jacket and some new shirts that aren't my dad's old ones." In case you're wondering, I bought Damon a new black leather jack and some brand new shirts I noticed he liked to wear the first night I interacted with him. But, the real special gift was coming up next.

"Did you find the second gift?" I asked.

"Where is it?"

Here, it comes. "Look, inside of the jacket."

Damon looked inside of the jacket until he came across something hard. An unknown emotion flickered in his eyes that I had never seen before. There in his hands was the gift I got him. It was the book, Call of the Wild, by Jack Landon.

"I saw you eyeing it earlier while we were at that dreaded store the last time you came with me. I decided, why not? Still, I'm glad I got it for you." I told him. Damon was shocked tremendously. I knew what I did next was going to be something I usually never do, but I didn't care. I leaned in closer trying to shorten the distance between us. I closed the gap between us for a moment before he could react to me.

I gave him a genuine smile before I said, "Merry Christmas, Damon."

**{Wide Awake}**

**Damn! I'm finally out of Christmas portion. Too many chapters! I hope the Daroline stuff in the end made up for the majority of the Klaroline stuff! Klaus will make more of his appearance soon enough. Don't worry. We're out of the Christmas portion moving on to the next part. I won't spoil you too much, but sooner or later Damon's past is going to come back in the flesh. **

**Please review! Let's make it too at least 145 to 150 reviews maybe. **

**Anybody wanna a cookie****?**


	15. Family

**A/n: Hello, lovelies! Sorry, it's taking me so long to update. I have been busy with so much schoolwork, life stuff, and my computer had to be bitchy by the end of it all. I'm using my mom's computer at the moment so that helps out. Even though, half the time I aggravate her so much. **

**Oh, one of you asked me if I was going to bring out Giuseppe Salvatore because he was the reason why Damon is so miserable. I'm not going to spoil any details, but his father does have something to do with it, but knowing Damon, there's a lot more going on to it. **

**I still want to thank all of those who reviewed: bunnykay, Guest, lesroisdumonde, rudyricky, Damon's Charlene, Sci-fi Christian, thisheartbeatsforyou, Babi, Guest, linalove, DarolineKlaroline, Guest, AnnaBelle89, Guest, and Guest.**

**Chapter Main Theme: Give Your Heart A Break by Julia Sheer**

**Oh, if any of you reading likes Klaroline, check out my other two VD stories. There is an AU/AH one called Time Heals All Wounds. Then my other one called Louder Than Thunder. I'm just giving you an option. I was totally squealing the other night watching the latest Klaroline scene! OMG! I just recently read too that CW is renewing TVD for a fifth season. Maybe there is hope for Klaroline after all. *hint hint***

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries. **

**Please Review!**

Chapter 15: Family

"Rowdy, get your ass over here now!" I yelled at the dirty, mangy mutt to get back inside. He was muddy as heck, and I have to give him a bath. Sure, this is one of my favorite things to do in my spare time.

Forget my previous thoughts earlier. Rowdy was by no means mangy, but he was definitely on the borderline of needing to be clean. I refuse to let my dog stink up my house.

My German shepherd walked back into the house tracking up mud into my kitchen. My shoulders slumped thinking of his previous act adding onto my list of things to do. There's a lot to do as it is right now.

It was into January now and it's Saturday. I am kind of glad of that though. Klaus being back in England was a good sort of relief for me too. It's not that I don't want him around. I do want Clara to see her father. I truly do, but some things have been taking a toll for me. Especially with his confession I find out from his own fiancée. How screwed up is my life now?

I've been cooped up inside of the house for a while too. It was not going to be long before I would need to go out and have some fun to myself. I can't stay in my house for too long.

When I was younger, I used to go out with friends and stuff just like every typical girl would. Hell, I'm still young. But, my time to myself had been cut short a bit due to me raising Clara. It's not that I don't want to take care of her. It's just feels like sometimes it's been one thing after another that just never ends. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm going to need to do something. Maybe I can use some girl time with Kat. That usually helps me out.

I grabbed Rowdy by his collar trying to restrain him from running off. "Gotcha."

"Having trouble?" his voice came to my ears.

I turned my head to glare at him. "Now is not the time to drive me crazy, Damon."

"Oh, come on. Loosen up a little bit. I thought you were more fun than that."

I purposely ignored him as I tried to guide Rowdy up the stairs to give him a bath, but he wouldn't budge. Damn it! "You have got to be joking me."

"Why would I joke?" he asked me just to piss me off.

"I wasn't talking to you Damon for your information. It's him." I said pointing to Rowdy who seemed to give me the sorry puppy look as if I hurt him. "Don't even try it. It's not going to work this time."

Damon rolled his eyes watching me. My annoyance with everything was reaching an all time high, and Damon was not helping out with his frolic behavior at this point. Kicking his ass in was too mighty of a temptation to resist, but I kept my hands to myself. I don't want anymore physical contact between me and him. The list of stupid things I've done in my life is just added more with him being in the room.

The worst thing about it is that it seems as if he knows I want it. You know how sometimes if someone touches you, you feel like there's electricity coming up your arm. That's how bad it was. Though rare were the instances we made contact, I couldn't deny what my body liked. He had the right touch. I wouldn't doubt he was some sort of ladies' man back where he used to live.

"Come on, Blondie. Seriously, I have a good point," he said trying to persuade me.

I scoffed. "Yeah, right. When are there ever any good points from you? Now, if you excuse me, I have a dirty dog to clean up."

I ushered my dog up the stairs leaving Damon downstairs trying to ignore him, which I am hardly able to successful at because he always has a way of pulling me back in.

"Don't get too rough," he commented with a half smirk.

"Kiss my ass, Damon." I retorted back to him.

I continued to do what I had to do before my cluttered and confused thoughts came up to the surface of my mind again. I closed the bathroom door behind me turning the lock that way my dog couldn't make a run for it. Heh, aren't I smart?

I slapped my hand to my forehead. "Great. Damon's jackass ways have rubbed on me." I mumbled to myself hoping he didn't her me. I turned to Rowdy again wanting to get Damon off my mind.

"Okay, mister. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Take your pick." I used the shower spray to wash the grime and dirt from Rowdy's fur which made the water took on a dark and murky appearance.

"You're lucky I love you so much. You're definitely spoiled rotten." I vigorously worked the thick dog-shampoo into his fur with my fingers making his fur soapy with the foam of bubbles.

"Roof! Roof!" he barked back.

Good. He knows whose the hand that feeds him me is. I messed with him a little bit trying to have some fun. "It's too bad you don't have long enough fur to make a mohawk."

I continued giving him a bath when I distinctly heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"Damon, I swear if that's you at my door, I'm going to get Clara's bat and whack you with it." I said sharply coming towards the end of my rope. Not giving into temptation of straightening his ass out was not working out as well as I thought it would be. It's even more tempting to me now that I'm imagining it in my head.

What can I say though? I can be evil when the rare occasion calls for it. Done with shampooing Rowdy, I brought the shower spray over again to rinse off the shampoo from his fur.

"Mama…" my baby girl called out my name.

Oh, crap. I practically threatened her. What kind of mother am I?

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

"What is it, baby?" I struggled trying to keep my voice normal as I fumbled with the shower spray.

"Damon says you need to hurry up," Clara replied.

Oh, for the love of - what the hell? He has the audacity to use my daughter as some sort of messenger? My daughter? Oh, he is so going to get it now.

"Clara, can you do me a favor?" I asked her through the door with a smug grin. Oh, he's not the only one. Two can play at that game, jackass.

"Sure, mama." Oh, this was going to be so good.

"I want you to tell him something for me."

**{Wide Awake}**

Damon kept bouncing his leg up and down repeatedly as he was sitting in the couch in the living room. Patience was never best quality among other his other flaws. The list was endless and he always added more to it whether he did it directly or indirectly. That's just Damon for you. Take it or leave it.

What could be taking her so long? It doesn't normally take long to give a mutt a bath. His train of thought broke when he heard the pitter-pattering of footsteps walking to the living room. He was pleased to see the blonde little girl loving the gift he got her. "Hey, kiddo. What did your mom say?"

Clara shrugged her shoulders with one hand up due to her holding her new stuffed animal she named, Oreo. He never really knew the reason behind the name, but he could only guess that she got it from the new Oreos commercial they had been advertising. He did prefer the cream over the cookie part. The inside was where all the good stuff was. "I dunno. The only thing she told me to tell you was two letters: F.O."

F.O.? What was that supposed to me- oh…

Now, he knew what she meant.

He chuckled to himself. Oh, he had to give it to her. She had game. It takes a lot of skill to combat against him in a battle of wits. No, here's a better name for it. Battle of the sexes.

"Do you even know what she wanted you to tell her?" he asked her curious of the little girl's feedback.

"I may not know, but I'm not stupid. I know what she really wanted to tell you are bad for me to hear," she answered.

"Okay. We better not anger the blonde queen any longer. What do you want to do in the meantime? Surely, there's something." Damon acted like he never saw a thing, but he caught the naughty glint in the blonde munchkin's gray-blue eyes. She inched her way over seeming like she had nothing planned in mind, but Damon knew better. He was a master.

"I dunno. Don't ask me." she said with her hands behind her back with her stuffed cat behind her facing Damon.

"Hmmm, I wonder. I think maybe I should do…THIS!" he grabbed hold of Clara in his arms constricting her from escaping. His conniving fingers worked their skill tickling her at all her vulnerable spots.

"Stop it, Damon! Ha! Ha! Mama, help!" Clara squealed high-pitched in laughter.

Rushing down the stairs, Damon saw Caroline charging into the living room with the aluminum bat in both of her hands looking like a soapy mess. Her blonde hair was in a mess, and her clothes were wet from the water. Her breath came in huffs trying to regulate her heartbeat. Also, a very damp Rowdy came rushing in to see what the action was all about.

"Oh, for the love of God! Damon, quit influencing my child! _¡Mierda!_" she cursed looking as if she wanted to swing the bat at his head, "And if you want to know what that means, you can look it up in the freaking dictionary!"

Damon could hear as she almost stomped on to her bedroom, and he heard a door close. When the coast was clear, Clara couldn't help, but laugh. "She's silly."

"She's more than that, kiddo. She's more than that." And it was true too. Any woman who was willing to put up with him was good in his book. Caroline Forbes was more than he can describe fully. There's more to her than just a face. Damon definitely agreed that she was truly a character to behold. He paused at his wording. Since when was he ever that poetic?

"You're silly too, Damon." Clara said immediately before she hugged him tightly.

Damon stiffened less than he did before from the warm affection of Caroline's daughter. He returned the hug to her and joked, "That's definitely not the right wording for me."

"You got that right."

He saw Caroline changed into a fresh new set of more comfortable clothes. Sinful thoughts sprouted in his mind as he checked her out as his eyes moved up and down her body. Damn, that woman can look hot in anything, he thought to himself. But, he quickly killed those thoughts for now. He didn't need to think of her like that. Not that she isn't too much to handle. "So the queen isn't going to take off my head?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. It's up to you how you wanna save your skin. I'm not repeating it twice," she warned him with a stern gaze.

Her daughter leaned in toward Damon and said, "She's not going to do anything."

Caroline's watchful eyes shifted to her daughter disapproving of Clara's remark, but not for long. She went toward Damon, and gathered her daughter to her arms.

Damon didn't let it show, but his heart warmed a little watching the mother-daughter moment between Caroline and Clara. Then again, it made him wonder about his own family. That's if he even had one to go too. The frown on his face deepened as his memory continued to frustrate him more and more. It shouldn't be that hard just to remember. What's the matter with him?

"Yoo-hoo! Earth to Damon." A feminine hand waved in front of his face.

"Alright! Alright! Get out of my bubble, Blondie." He got up from the couch and made his way into the kitchen trying to find something to drink in the refrigerator.

"Since when did you ever have a bubble?" she asked as she held her giggling daughter who kept herself entertained watching the banter between the two. That's if you call it by that certain wording.

"Since now," he quipped at her question scouting out for any liquor in sight like a bloodhound. "Damn it, what does it take to let a man have his poison around here? Where's that secret stash you have?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. Damon was going to have to learn sooner or later. She was not going to budge no matter how much he complained or begged for it. She wasn't going to give anything will alcohol content to him. Who knows how much damage had been to his brain? She wasn't going to have that guilt on her conscience.

"Sorry, bud. Can't help you there."

She was so out to murder him, he knew it. What was he going to do without his bourbon? This is a disaster! But, Damon was never the one to give up unless he really had to. That's when the light bulb switched on. He knew exactly what to do.

It' was time to put his skills into work.

"Why don't we go out?" he suggested planting the seed of what he had planned out. It was only a matter of time.

Caroline had set Clara down for her to do whatever she wanted. Clara ended up going to Rowdy and affectionately playing with her favorite dog in the world. Caroline crossed her arms over chest arching an eyebrow to Damon. "Seriously? You're trying to pull this off again?"

Damon got himself a cold coke in his hand and opened it hearing the fizz noise in his ears. Now was the moment he had worked for. Damon let his skill do the work. "Think about it," he started to speak as if it had already been obvious, "you've been cooped in the house too long. Both of us have, and we all know what happens when two people get a _little_ crazy."

"A little? Ha! More like borderline insanity," she scoffed.

Damon just kept talking ignoring Caroline just making her aggravated more with every minute that had passed on. "Therefore, I say for both of our sakes, let's get out. It would be good for you. Good for me. It'd be good for Clara too. So, what do you say?"

There was a silent moment before Caroline could make her response, but the response wasn't like Damon had expected it to be. She was laughing. That wasn't supposed to be it. He had to admit that it was rare that he ever got to hear her laugh.

"That's pretty well done effort. If you wanted to go somewhere, after all you have to do is ask me. You don't need to use your schmooze or your so whatsoever skills that had to help you to get your way like you had done just now. Let me get dressed real quick cause I am so not going out in these pajamas. " She gave a away a witty smile and turned her back from the living room heading back to her own room.

Damon couldn't believe it. He had lost to his own game by the same crazy blonde woman. Since when did he ever lose?

"What is the world coming down to?" he asked himself as he ran a hand through his dark hair. Even he did not have the answer to his own question. But, that was just one part of the uncertainty he had been harboring for God knows how long. There were so many answers that he wanted to his questions, it was almost infinite. It frustrated him to no end.

"What's wrong?" Clara asked him as she was playing with Rowdy.

Damon's face changed to something more of his usual ways: mischievous and sarcastic. "Nothing you need to worry about. You can do me a favor, though. Just for me."

Clara's face perked up. "What?" she whispered.

Damon squatted down and leaned in toward her. In a surprising nice, but firm tone he spoke, "Your mother does a lot for you. So does your father." And he still couldn't believe those last four words coming out of his mouth. "Be thankful for that. You have a family that would do anything in the world for you. You're very blessed, kiddo."

Caroline's daughter tilted her head in curiosity. "Where's your family, Damon?"

Damon's face faltered for a moment. Somehow deep in his heart, he knew for him to end up on Caroline's doorstep like the way he was before, something was troubling paradise. He knew his family, that's if he had family to begin with had something to do with it. "I don't know. But, who cares anyway eight now? You've been keeping me entertained."

That was when he truly saw the caring and giving heart of her mother shine through Clara that had been passed onto her. Clara wrapped her arms around his neck as much as she could. "Don't worry. You'll always be part of my family, Damon. Just like my aunt says. 'Always and forever.'"

Her words went right through to his heart unleashing an unfamiliar yet still there, a pain inside of him that he had always felt. He never showed it to anyone. Not to Caroline, and he wasn't going to show it anytime to if he had anything to do about it. But, he couldn't stop the tears that pricked his eyes he to a great extent try to hold back. He hated himself at this moment for being so weak. So young this child was yet it was so simple for her to see right through to his soul with those grayish-blue eyes of hers.

Unknown to him and Clara, Caroline had watched only a part of the conversation between the two, but she had caught her daughter's bright light that shown through like a heaven's light to Damon. Though the man had his flaws and they drove her nuts to no end, she saw took in account of the hidden weight he carried inside of him. It was enough.

{**Wide Awake}**

"Are you serious, Damon? Have you been taking some unknown drug I don't know about?" I asked him questioning his actions. Honestly? When does this man ever bring us to something like this?

"It's okay. We'll be fine. Like I said before, all of us can use a break. And it will keep us before going at each other's throats," he explained to me.

"I'm not some child, Damon. And I'm not stupid. I think you lost your mind."

He laughed a hearty laugh at my remark. How come no one else is agreeing with me at the moment? I shivered a little bit as a gusty wind blew right through me. "Damn, it's too cold."

"I'll agree with you on that," he said.

Huh, that's a first.

"Mama! Hurry up! We're here!" Clara called out to me.

Both Damon and I walked up to the entrance. I still can't believe it. I can't even figure it out. Here, I was standing with my daughter and Damon at the place I never expected to be.

"YAY! WE'RE AT THE CARNIVAL!" my daughter exclaimed excitedly.

Yup. You heard her loud and clear. Damon had brought us to a winter carnival. What the hell have I reduced myself down to?

**{Wide Awake}**

**Hi! I'm sorry if the chapter is a little shorter than usual. I had to get something out. i'm not losing my inspiration for this story. There is just a lot of stuff going on right now for me. I'm making it up in the next chapter. Got some Daroline goodness coming up in the next chapter! Want it sooner? All you have to do is review. The more reviews, the faster it comes! YAY! **

**I'm off to watch the new episode now. I hope it's good. I'll update the other stories later this weekend. Please review!**


	16. Horsin' Around Part One

**A/n: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a month. Shame on me! Shame on me! I've been caught up with life, writer's block, and I'm practically drowning in the world of Klaroline. I'm an official Klaroline shipper now. Yay for me! I still haven't given up this story. I'm still in love with it. I've just been bouncing a lot between stories. If any of you like Klaroline, check out Time Heals All Wounds and my new story, Louder Than Thunder! **

**I want to thank all of those who reviewed: Babi, Lovergirl24, joyusbabs, linalove, Demetri's . Little . Devil, Daroline, Guest, DarolineKlaroline, DamonLover86, Annabelle89, Guest, xWrittenInTheStarsX, CaraSalvatore, VampCaroline, baby. Blue. Eyes. 90, TeamStefanBitches, Guest, Guest, AgathaN, and Guest. **

**Please review! I'm sorry this was a short chapter, but the next part will be coming soon!**

**Chapter Main Theme: Firework by Katy Perry**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries. I'm so sorry for the delay!**

Chapter 15: Horsin' Around Part One

"YAY! WE'RE AT THE CARNIVAL!" my daughter exclaimed excitedly.

Yup. You heard her loud and clear. Damon had brought us to a winter carnival. What the hell have I reduced myself down to? Katherine would totally see this as great blackmail material. Thank God, she wasn't here to rub it in. Damon was a handful already. Wait a minute. Clara was the handful. Damon, on the other hand, was way more than that.

I don't remember the last time I've ever been to a carnival. It's been forever. Maybe since I was young. I don't really recall. This has got to be Clara's first carnival too. My memory is not all that great.

They had everything. Rides, games, food, and so much more. I couldn't comprehend still of Damon bringing me and my daughter to this place. Wow. They even had the corny carnival music playing from the speakers. Yup, definitely not corny at all.

"Clara, stay close to me. I don't need you running off." I told her ahead of time.

"But, Mama!" Clara whined.

"Don't 'but' me, young lady. You need to stay close to me and Damon. End of story." That was the last time I going to repeat this to her. I wasn't willing to risk losing my daughter in some unknown place I haven't been before. Especially, when the fairgrounds are here are pretty big. I know it sucks that I never took time to take Clara to a fun fair/carnival, but it still didn't mean that I never spent any time with my daughter.

"You need to lighten up, Blondie," he joked causing me to raise an eyebrow to him.

"Well, excuse me! I'm sorry for being concerned for my daughter. It doesn't make a bad person," I retorted sending him a glare.

Damon rolled his eyes at me completely ignoring my glares at him. He turned to my little girl smiling like a Cheshire Cat. "Hi, kiddo. Is there a place you wanna go to?"

Clara's eyes brightened up already answering Damon's question with her own actions. "Mama! Mama, look! Let's go over there!" She pointed to the petting zoo up ahead dragging me along in an almost-sprint. Oh, boy. We're in for a long night.

Surprisingly, Damon wasn't cringing or regretting going through this. Of course, I could be wrong on all counts. He was so unpredictable at times much like Klaus. Oh, no! Caroline, don't you dare think about those two! Focus! Focus on your daughter. You're her mother, dammit!

He followed us as we trenched through the whole array of the cute animals Clara kept squealing about. We were there for a while. We saw from goats, sheep, and llamas to guinea pigs, rabbits, camels, pigs, and miniature donkeys. She zipped through the whole zoo with me and Damon desperately trying to convince her to slow down. But, you had to laugh about it a little because Clara was so cute. I am being a little biased since I am her mom. I will admit that wholeheartedly.

"NO WAY!" Clara squealed.

My eyes caught on to what Clara had been squealing about. There in the fenced paddock was a very beautiful horse standing behind the fence grazing. Clara brought me closer to the fence seeing the horse close up and personal. Damon stood with us as Clara stared at the horse in awe.

Here's another thing about Clara. Remember Klaus's gift to Clara for Christmas? See, there was a reason for that. Her love for horses started when she was younger as a toddler. Sometimes when I drove on a little road trip, she would look out of the window watching everything going by. It was when she saw the horses for the first time, her fascination with them started. She'd always tell me, "Look, Mama! It's a horsie!" it always made me laugh. Who wouldn't? My baby girl was downright adorable. Any mother would think that of their child.

Her love for horses grew once Klaus found out about it. If anything, I'm sure she inherited it from Klaus because I never had pets growing up until I adopted Rowdy. England always had an abundance of horses over there. Especially, draft horses. You know, like the horses that drive the big wooden wagons in the beer commercials? Those were the ones I was talking about. I have to admit though that as much I am impressed with England's advantages, you can't help, but love good 'ole America. Anyway, her love for horses grew on one of our visits to see Klaus's family.

Klaus loved horses too. One of his passions or hobbies he said once. I really don't recollect clearly on which, but he certainly loved it. One of the horses he showed Clara was a beautiful Clydesdale gelding. Oh, she instantly fell in love with that horse. Clara ended up calling him 'Rummy' because he stole a piece of the rum cake I had been snacking on at the time. I gave it to him anyway considering the hygiene issues here.

The horse we saw behind the fence was different. It was a beautiful horse dark brown horse with a matching colored mane and long tail. It had brown eyes that reminded me of melted chocolate. What was peculiar was the spotting in its coat. It was almost as if a white spotted blanket had fallen over its coat.

"He sure is a beauty," I commented taking in the beauty of the horse.

"Actually, he is a she. It's a girl horse." Clara pointed out to me trying to get closer to the horse.

"Surely, it's a male." I playfully argued to her hoping to be right.

"I have to agree with her on this one, Blondie. It's a female." Damon agreed with her. He noticed Clara's silent frustration as she struggled to reach the horse being short at her age. He scooped her into his arms holding her against his hip. Clara almost shrieked in surprise being in Damon's arms. He quietly put a finger to his lips signaling her to hush. "Shh, you don't want to scare her. Let's help you out, kiddo."

Clara copied his actions eagerly hoping to see the mare. He brought her over the dark-colored mare, clicking his tongue gesturing the horse to come. She picked her head turning to see me, Clara, and Damon. Her ears pricked forward twitching hearing the sound of Damon's clicks. Damon clicked his tongue again hoping the horse wasn't shy. I bent down slowly grabbing some grass in my hands, putting the cool grass into her hand.

I watched quietly as the mare walked towards Damon and Clara. All of us froze not wanting to scare the horse away. She briefly sniffed Clara's hand. Then she fervently nibbled on the grass with her teeth.

"Hehe. That tickles," Clara giggled at the mare.

"I wonder what kind of horse is she." I wondered happily seeing Clara getting interaction with the horse.

"It's an Appaloosa. The horses were used by the Indians years ago. They didn't get popular until the 1930's. I read that in reading in one of my books." Clara said as she stroked the horse's head. It was times like these that I'm still wowed by how much of a bookworm my daughter really was.

The mare's gentle brown eyes softened at Clara's affection. The spotted mare softly nickered to her nudging her velvety nose at Clara's cheek sweetly. "You're so pretty," Clara said to the horse, "Come and pet her, Mama."

Damon's eyes sparked with mirth. He gestured to the mare with a turn of his head. "Well? Go pet her. She's not going to bite. Or are you just to chicken?"

Oh, what is this? Elementary school? "Seriously, Damon? You're reducing yourself to using that to manipulate me? Ha! Like that's going to work on me."

"Mama! Don't embarrass me. I don't want a mama who's a chicken," she complained just fueling the Damon's enjoyment, much to my disappointment. Great. Now, Damon is influencing my daughter. He just stared at me making clucking chicken noises under his breath. No one is going to cluck Caroline Forbes out of a dare.

"Fine, I'll do it. It'll make you happy at least for a little while," I said determined to prove it to them.

I approached the dark horse slowly trying to frighten her, now it has been proved that it was indeed a female horse thanks to my little bookworm. Please don't make noises. Please don't make a noise, I silently pleaded internally maybe somehow the horse read my mind.

But as always, fate had other plans. The horse neighed a very loud whinny close to my ears causing me to jump back almost ten feet. "Shit! Not so loud!"

Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a little bit. But, that horse scared me to bits! I mentally slapped myself on my forehead. I had just cussed in front of my daughter. Cussing was a lot like smoking for me. Thank God, I don't smoke. I don't know which would be harder to quit.

Both Damon and Clara just cracked up in laughter. "Okay, now that was too funny."

I narrowed my eyes annoyed by those two. I'll show them. Determined, I walked up to the horse again carefully, and held my hand up waiting for the horse to make the next move. She lifted her head with her smooth nose meeting the pad of my hand. I stroked her head feeling the soft dark fur of her coat. Taking a closer a look, you didn't need to be an expert to notice how healthy she was. Her coat was very glossy and the muscles of the horse were well defined.

I finished showing enough contact to the horse, turned around, and faced the two goofballs. "See, I told you I could do it."

That's when those two…I couldn't call them idiots because that would be insulting and stupid on my part. I don't know what to call them right now. Partners in crime? Maybe. They have been teaming up a lot more. Then I saw them snickering like a bunch of weasels.

"Okay, what's going on now?" I asked wondering what the hell they were laughing about.

Instead of helping me, both of them just laughed some more. Okay, now they were getting on my nerves.

That was when I heard some chewing noises nearby. Out of the corner of my vision, the horse was nibbling on my hair like it was fresh hay.

"Not again!" I snapped whipping my hair back from the spotted mare. I was grossed out at the sight of feeling the slobber that currently etched itself in my hair. Dammit! This happened last time!

I stomped off heading for the nearest bathroom. "Where you're going?" Damon asked much to my annoyance. He still had that damn smirk I couldn't stand at the moment.

"Going to fix my bad hair day. What's it to ya?" I knew I shouldn't have put my hair down for this. I still kept going to find the nearest bathroom so I can get this sloppy crap out of my hair. Oh, Damon was so close to being put on my list.

As I walked further away, I finally found a bathroom in sight. "Bingo."

I hurried over to it as fast I as I could, but as always I had the worst of luck; it seems like that, huh? I ended up running in face first a hard wall resulting myself falling straight on my ass. Again. What's up with me?

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you." I quickly said scrambling trying to help the poor man up.

"It's okay. I'm fine," he said politely refusing my help, but I didn't take no for an answer.

"I'm going to help you whether you like it or not." I got up off the ground, and used my weight to get him back up again on his feet.

I looked up at him taking in his appearance. The stranger had brown hair spiked up, and he had very soulful green eyes. But, what got me was the brooding expression in his face. It was too evident that he was worried about something. I didn't know what exactly, but it had to be pretty bad considering. But, I had to get back to Damon and Clara soon. I couldn't leave them all alone.

"Listen, I'm still sorry for that. I hope I didn't give you any trouble."

"You're not giving me any trouble. You don't need to apologize so much," he gave a small smile before he left to brood again leaving me in my wake.

"Hey!" I called after him.

The handsome stranger turned around and looked at me again. "Yes?"

"A piece of advice: take that serious look off your face. You don't need to be so broody. Besides, you'll get more wrinkles faster than I would turn forty. But, really. Just lighten up. Things will be okay. Trust me." I told him giving him a reassuring smile.

Unexpectedly, he returned a smile back to me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

**{Wide Awake}**

**Hoped you liked it. Here's a link to the picture of the horse I was writing about earlier. I'm sorry that this was a shorter chapter than usual. **

** : / / palisadesapps . Homestead divarun2012 . jpg**


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